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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. J 



LETTEKS OF HARVEY PISK. 



LETTERS 



OF 



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HARVEY FISK 



TOti) an Sntrotmctorg jIHemoir. 



EDITED FOR THE FAMILY BY HIS SON, 
HARVEY EDWARD FISK. 



NEW YORK: 
1896. 



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APR 181896 



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Copyright, 1896, 
By Harvey E. Fisk. 



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2Emtersitg Press: 
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. 



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$$y Dear ^ottjer, Brothers, anu %>i$tm. 

A FTER the lapse of five years since he was taken 
-*- ^- from us, I am able to present for your loving 
perusal this collection of dear Father's letters. I 
have been greatly aided in editing the letters, and in 
preparing the introductory Memoir, by our mutual 
friends the Misses Kaufman. The genealogical sketch 
of the Fisk family was written by Miss Kate Kaufman. 
I am also under peculiar obligations to Uncle Pliny 
Fisk and to Auntie (Mrs. Jonathan Fisk) for valuable 
material and good suggestions. 

I feel sure that you cannot read these letters, some 
of which will be new to you, without a renewed sense 
of obligation to the dear Lord who gave us Harvey 
Fisk as head of our family, or without a renewed 
determination so to live that we may be worthy of 
his name. He has set a high standard for us all 
to live up to. 



6 DEDICATION. 

I have tried to present his character in all its 
loveliness, chiefly in his own words, in the hope 
that each one of us and each one of his children's 
children may take it as an exemplar. His life 
emphasises character, — not mere reputation, but 
character. 

Speaking of character, let me impress upon my 
nieces and nephews and upon my own children 
that character is a growth : it cannot be acquired 
in a few days. If your Grandfather had not from 
his youth sown the seeds of good habits, such as 
strict truthfulness, honesty, application, and exact 
fairness in his dealings with his business associates 
and customers, he could not have had that priceless 
confidence, called credit in the business world, all 
through the trying years following 1873, which was 
for a long time his main capital, — the thing which 
enabled him to retrieve his fortune and to pay his 
creditors. 

Father never believed in luck, but rather that all 
success must be the result of constant effort. Neither 
did he believe that the mere possession of wealth indi- 
cated success. If so, he would not, in 1873, have 
sacrificed his fortune in his effort to protect the 
people to whom he had sold the bonds of the Chesa- 
peake & Ohio Railroad. 



DEDICATION. 7 

" Reputation " — that is, what men think of us — 

is of small import ; character — what we are — is 

the important matter. If our character is right, our 

reputation will, as a rule, take care of itself. If one 

must be sacrificed, let it be reputation. Christ 

made himself of no reputation, but his character 

was perfect. 

Lovingly, 

HARVEY EDWARD FISK. 

November, 1895. 



INTRODUCTION. 



HT*HE Fisk family is of English origin. The first 
A of the name referred to in manuscripts found 
on file in the British Museum is Symond Fiske, Lord 
of the Manor of Stradhaugh, parish of Laxfield, county 
of Suffolk, 1399-1422. He married Susanna Smyth, 
and from them were descended, through five interven- 
ing genealogical links, the brothers John and William 
(l),who emigrated to New England in 1637, and set- 
tled in Wenham, Mass. According to Cotton Mather, 
who places the name of John Fisk on his list of 
" reverend, learned and holy divines, by whose 
Evangelical ministry the churches of New England 
have been illuminated," they were the children " of 
pious and worthy parents, yea, of grandparents and 
great-grandparents, eminent for zeal in the true 
religion." 

William Fisk, Jr. (2), eldest son of the above 
William, was born in Wenham in 1642, and was 
married in 1662 to Sarah Kilham, by whom he had 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

fourteen children. Like his father, he held various 
offices of public trust and honour in the town of Wen- 
ham, and for many years was deacon in the Congre- 
gational Church of that place. 

Ebenezer (3), sixth son of the above, was born in 
1679. He was married to Elizabeth Fuller (among 
whose posterity was the famous Margaret Fuller), 
and in 1739 was elected deacon, which office he 
held for twenty years. 

Ebenezer (4), second son of Deacon Ebenezer of 
Wenham, settled in Shelburne, Mass., where he died 
in 1804, at the age of eighty-eight. He was married 
in 1740 to Dorcas Tyler, and they were the parents 
of nine children, one of whom (Ebenezer) was the 
father of Pliny Fisk, the missionary, and grandfather 
of Fidelia Fisk, also a missionary of note. 

Moses (5), youngest son of Ebenezer and Dorcas, 
and grandfather of the subject of this memoir, 
was born September 13, 1764, in Shelburne, Mass. 
In 1789 he married Hannah Batchelder. After spend- 
ing a few years in his native town, they removed with 
their three children to Waitsfield, Vt., at that day a 
mere hamlet in the wilderness. Here he settled, 
building with his own hands their log hut, and living 
a simple, laborious life. In 1801 Moses Fisk was 
chosen deacon of the Congregational Church, — 
which office he held for forty-three years, and in 
which capacity he served faithfully. 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

Living all the clays of his Christian life in the 
same neighbourhood, his name scarcely known beyond 
the hills that encircled the valley of his home ; honest, 
true-hearted, and stanch ; strict, almost to severity, 
in his ideas of right and wrong, — he stands as a fit 
type of the Puritan stock from which he sprung. 

Himself a man of small education, he yet realised 
its vast importance, and struggled hard to provide 
for his children the time and means for study. In 
this he was ably assisted by his wife, a woman of 
sound judgment and untiring energy. From a 
letter written by her son Joel to a brother, I quote 
the following, as giving a son's estimate of his 
mother's character : — 

" Oh, what a noble mother we have had ! Her husband 
while he lived praised her, and her children must rise up 
and call her blessed. Our mother has been a woman of 
strong mind, keen discernment, and wise calculation. 
Born in comparative obscurity, having but few early ad- 
vantages for education, married young, settled in a new 
country with only a bare competence, — when she must 
ever be at her distaff, her wheel, her tub, and her larder, 
in order to provide food and raiment convenient for her 
household, — what .a woman ! We, as children, owe much 
to our father, — to his faithful instruction, to his godly 
example, to his faith and his prayers ; but in doing just 
honour to his memory we must not forget what we owe our 
mother." 

Moses and Hannah Fisk had twelve children, eleven 
of whom grew to maturity. 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

Joel (6), the father of Harvey Fisk, was born in 
Waitsfield, Vt., October 26, 1796. As his parents 
were in very moderate circumstances, he gained an 
education only after much self-denial and hardship ; 
but with perseverance he fitted himself for college, 
and graduated at Middlebury in 1825, after which 
he studied theology with Rev. Charles Walker of 
Rutland, Vt., and was licensed by the Rutland xisso- 
ciation of the Congregational Church in 1826. 

In the fall of 1826 Joel Fisk was married to 
Clarinda Chapman, of Rutland, Vt., and the same 
year entered upon the work in which his heart was 
set, and in which he laboured faithfully for a period 
of thirty years. His first call was to the Congre- 
gational Church at Monkton, Vt., where he remained 
four years. From 1830 to 1832 he was pastor at 
New Haven, Vt. ; from 1832 to 1844, of the Presby- 
terian Church in Essex, N. Y. ; during 1844-1845 he 
acted as a missionary in Canada, making his home 
in Montreal ; and was afterwards settled in Philips- 
burg, C E., from 1845 to 1850. He ivas pastor at 
Irasburg, Vt., from 1850 to 1855, when he removed 
to Plainfield, Vt., where in the midst of much bodily 
infirmity he preached with fidelity and success until 
his death, December 16, 1856. 

To Joel and Clarinda Fisk there were born eight 
children : Pliny, Clarinda, Harvey, Joel, Daniel, 
Sarah, Mary, and Richard Henry. On a salary so 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

small as to render the simplest living possible only 
with strict economy, these children were raised and 
provided with a good education. This was largely 
due to the efforts of the mother, who was gifted with 
an unusual amount of New England thrift and perse- 
verance. In a letter to her husband, written in May, 
1834, she speaks most earnestly of their duty to their 
children, — 

" Oh that we might be enabled to train up our dear 
children for the Lord ! If we are diligent in preparing 
the way of the Lord in their hearts, God will not forget 
his holy covenant. Oh, ray dear husband, you are ac- 
quainted with all my weakness and sinfulness ! Do pray 
for me that I may be strengthened to the faithful per- 
formance of every duty." 

A conscientious, earnest woman ; a patient, loving 
mother, — she well deserves the affection in which 
her children ever held her, and the many material 
benefits with which they were able to provide her 
in her declining years. 

In 1831 Joel was saddened by the death of his 
brother Harvey, a Presbyterian minister in New 
York, and a man of much sweetness of character 
and personal magnetism. He graduated at Hamil- 
ton College in 1826, and the same year entered the 
Theological Seminary at Princeton, N. J. He soon 
after published a series of Sabbath School Questions, 
and for a time issued a small monthly Sabbath School 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

Journal. He was licensed to preach ; laboured much 
in New Jersey as a Sabbath School Agent ; compiled 
several of the first volumes of the Union Questions ; 
and, in March, 1831, died in New York, aged thirty- 
two years. It was for this brother that Joel Fisk 
named his second son, — the subject of this sketch, — 
who was born one month after the death of his uncle. 

The years following were devoted to the two 
interests nearest his heart, — the welfare of his 
children and of his church ; and his letters to his 
sons, who left home at an early age to engage in 
business, are full of sound, fatherly advice, urging 
them ever to the upbuilding of character rather than 
of fortune. These same letters show an absorbing 
zeal for his work as a minister ; and this zeal con- 
tinned strong and fresh until the day of his death. 

While in college, Joel was almost reprimanded for 
his persistence in revival work, and this fact is a true 
exponent of his whole professional life. In Essex, 
particularly, he laboured with much success. It was 
his habit, at various times, to assist his brother min- 
isters. After spending several weeks preaching every 
afternoon and evening, he would then return to his 
own people, to engage with a new ardour and quickened 
pace in his home duties. 

But perhaps no one thing, aside from his delight in 
the work of preaching, was more observable in this 
man than his unworldliness. At the time of his 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

father's death, he preached a sermon which was after- 
wards published. In this sermon he refers to a time 
when his parents were so reduced as to be obliged to 
accept assistance from a stranger, which assistance he 
maintains was the direct answer to prayer. To this 
reference, as well as to the mention of their parents' 
lack of early education, one of the brothers takes 
exception, and fails to see the propriety of telling 
these things to the world. In answer to this criticism, 
Joel writes : — 

" We look upon the paragraph with very different eyes. 
You look upon our beloved parent reduced to abject 
poverty, begging his bread ; but I look upon hirn as a 
prince, wrestling with heaven and prevailing. The 
fact of his destitution at a certain time was mentioned 
for the sake of bringing out a noble trait in his character. 
When I wrote the sermon, my mind was not on the fact 
at all, but on his trust in God, and power in prayer. The 
object of the memoir was not to exalt the subject of it as 
learned in the wisdom of this world, but in that wisdom 
that cometh from above, — not as rich in the treasures of 
earth, but rich towards God." 

In his last illness, such was his desire to preach 
that, at his earnest request, he was on several occa- 
sions assisted to the church, where he performed the 
service in a sitting posture. His peaceful death was 
the fitting close of such a life. 

He was a man of tender sympathies and simple 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

faith, with strong convictions and with the courage to 
live up to them : not a brilliant nor a scholarly man, 
but one who used to best advantage the talents he had, 
and who devoted the strength of his manhood to the 
work to which he felt himself called. 

Harvey Fisk was born April 26, 1831, at New 
Haven, Vt. It was in the following year that his 
father moved to Essex, N. Y. Of this place, where 
Harvey's happy boyhood days were spent, and of the 
simple home life there, Pliny Fisk, his brother, writes 
as follows : — 

" Essex was beautifully situated ou the shore of Lake 
Champlain, almost directly opposite Burlington, the 
capital of Vermont. The lake at this point was nearly 
three miles wide. To the east was the range of Green 
Mountains ; and to the west, the Adirondacks, — the 
highest peaks of both being plainly visible. The Camel's 
Hump in Vermont was always in sight, the sun rising 
directly back of it, and setting just the other side of 
Mount Henry, of the Adirondacks. As a boy, that was 
my whole world, and a very beautiful world too. The 
lake, with its storms and in sunshine, was always beauti- 
ful, and the mountains all around were grand. 

" The parsonage was located on a hill overlooking the 
village and the lake. The house was a small frame 
building. Directly over the kitchen was a garret with one 
window, where we — that is, Harvey and I — slept, sum- 
mer and winter, for years. There was no lath or plaster in 
this room, nothing but shingles between us and the sky ; 
and on stormy nights the wind and thunder seemed near, 



INTRODUCTION. 17 

and the flashes of lightning would light up that end 
window so beautifully. Many a night we lay there 
watching the flashes until we went to sleep ; neither of 
us had the least fear, and we thought the thunder grand. 
In winter it was a very common occurrence to find heaps 
of snow on the bed and floor when we woke up. 

" We lived on salt pork, cod-fish, and white potatoes ; 
occasionally we had chickens. Aunt Hannah fried pork 
crisp and brown; it was delicious, and was only equalled 
by her cod-fish cooked in cream. If you want a real 
good dinner, just call Aunt Hannah back, and to these 
two let her add baked white potatoes, and you will have 
the best dinner you ever ate ; then finish with one of her 
mince-pies, steal some of her cookies, hid under the bed, 
and an apple or two from the cellar, and you will be a 
happy man. 

"The crockery was the old English printed ware, such 
as everybody had in those days. The knives were bone- 
handled ; the forks, two-tined ; the spoons, with one or two 
exceptions, were not silver. I remember that we had 
clean plates when we had pie, — and we always had pie 
noon and night ; but as we only had one set of knives 
and forks, they had to serve all purposes. 

" Part of our breakfast was family prayers. Directly 
after eating, we simply pushed back our chairs, took our 
Bibles, and each read a verse of the chapter in order for 
that day. Father made the prayer ; some of those 
prayers I can remember to this day. 

" In those times we knew nothing of warm underclothes 
or of overcoats. For winter, our pants and coats were 
lined heavily. We had home-made knit socks and mit- 
tens, cowhide boots, and cloth caps, with tabs to cover 

3 



18 INTRODUCTION. 

our ears, and never thought of freezing, although we 
both had a cry occasionally from cold hands or feet." 

The boys ran barefoot most of the time, except in 
winter. A new suit of clothes was almost an event 
of a lifetime. Small wonder that on these rare occa- 
sions Harvey felt like playing truant instead of going 
to church or school, for dread of the comment which 
his new suit would draw forth. 

It was the duty of the boys to care for the horse, to 
take the cow to and from pasture and to milk her, to cut 
and carry wood for the fires, and to tend to the garden, 
as well as to run the many errands for which boys seem 
to be especially created. After u doing the chores " 
in the morning, the boys would trudge off to the 
district school, and in the interval between the close 
of school and the evening " chores," enjoyed to the 
full the pleasures afforded by the lake and country, 
fishing, boating, swimming, and all the other enjoy- 
ments incident to country life. 

Sunday was a busy day for the pastor and his family. 
The women must perform their household duties, and 
the boys their " chores " in time to be in their seats in 
the meeting-house promptly at ten-thirty, at which 
time the service began. When the bell commenced 
tolling, the family started from the house in regular 
procession, headed by the father and mother, and 
followed by the children in the order of their ages ; 
and when the minister reached the pulpit, the bell 



INTRODUCTION. 19 

ceased and the service began. If, perchance, during 
the service one of the minister's children became 
restless, he was told from the pulpit to come and sit 
on the pulpit steps in sight of all the congregation 
until the service was over. Immediately after service 
Sunday-school convened. After dinner the pastor 
would drive with one of his boys to an outlying parish 
to hold another service, returning, after supper, to his 
own church for a meeting at " early candle-lighting." 
Ministers' salaries in those days, especially in the 
country parishes, were certainly no temptation to 
young men to look upon the ministry as a sinecure. 
As already stated, the church at Essex paid but a 
small salary ; oftentimes a farmer would place in the 
minister's carriage some vegetables or a ham when 
the latter was making a pastoral visit, and say that 
these were to be credited on account of his subscrip- 
tion to the salary. The salary was supplemented once 
a year by a " donation party." This was the only 
social gathering known, and was the one great event of 
the year. For the following description I am indebted 
to the brother before referred to. 

" In the early morning of the day fixed, the house 
would be taken possession of by the ladies of the village, 
who brought with them baskets of crockery, etc., to 
furnish the table, which was duly set out in the kitchen. 
Cooked provisions of all kinds were sent in, the people 
supplying everything for the meal or meals that lasted 



20 INTRODUCTION. 

all day. During the morning the great event was the 
arrival of the wood train : from five to fifteen loads of 
cord wood would drive up at the same time, having met 
at some place agreed upon outside ; then Father and 
the boys would go out and shake hands with the farmers, 
and we boys would listen as they discussed each other's 
loads, and woe to the man who a second time brought a 
poor load ! T confess that some of my prejudices against 
particular men arose from these discussions. At that 
time wood was the only fuel ; no other was known. 

" After the wood, there might be a load or two of hay. 
Then followed all day the sleighs containing the farmers' 
families, with their gifts of apples, potatoes, oats, corn, 
and farm truck of all kinds. By dark the farmers would 
have come and gone, would have had their food and talk, 
and in the evening the village people would fill the house 
to overflowing, and when the time came Father would 
speak a few words of thanks, and with a prayer would 
close the party for that year." 

A day to which boys and girls as well as the older 
people looked forward with eagerness, was " General 
Training Day," when the militia were drilled, and all 
their relatives and friends turned out to see them. 
The people would come for miles to the village where 
the drill was to take place. The ranks were formed 
on the main street, and then, with the inspiring music 
of fife and drum, they marched to some meadows out 
of town, drilling all day, and in the evening marched 
back again, and were dismissed. The day was a gala 
day, when picnic lemonade and gingerbread men 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

absorbed the last pennies of the boys, and were a 
greater treat than the best dinner their mother could 
cook for them. 

In 1844 the Fisk family moved to Montreal, Canada. 
About this time Harvey was sent to live in the family 
of a French-Canadian farmer, in order that he might 
learn the French language. The knowledge of this 
language was not only of immediate service to him, 
but was a source of great comfort all his life. At the 
Frenchman's farmhouse Harvey had his first taste of 
sour bread, which the farmer used to make himself, 
kneading the dough with his feet. 

In 1846, while not yet sixteen years old, we find 
Harvey at Bakersfield (Vt.) Academy, teaching 
French, and so earning tuition in other branches. 
Harvey remained at Bakersfield Academy until the 
spring of 1848, when it was thought best that he 
should take advantage of an opportunity which offered 
to go as a clerk in a dry-goods store in Trenton, 
N. J., the position having been secured for him by 
his uncle, Jonathan Fisk. 

Jonathan Fisk was a man of fine business ability, 
and Avas greatly loved and respected by all who knew 
him. His wife, Mary A. Imlay, was a woman of 
unusual intellectual ability, and of the highest social 
standing, her family being one of the oldest in New 
Jersey. She had a bright, sunny disposition, and a 
cultured mind, and was a most devoted wife. Jona- 



22 INTRODUCTION. 

than Fisk was one of the most generous of men. He 
especially delighted in helping young people to 
secure an education and a start in life. Not having 
any children of their own, these dear people lavished 
their affections on the children of others, especially 
on their nieces and nephews ; and so great was their 
interest in Harvey, and so tender their care during 
his stay in Trenton, that he looked upon them as a 
second father and mother. 

The ensuing period (1848-62) of fourteen years was 
one of preparation for the active business career 
which followed. It is marked by patience and per- 
severance and steady advancement. Father's motto 
here, as always, was to do his best in whatever posi- 
tion he was placed. He quickly Avon the confidence 
and respect of his employers, both as a boy in the 
store in Trenton, and afterwards as a young man in 
the banks where he worked in New York. 

After serving a faithful apprenticeship of four 
years in the store in Trenton, he received an offer to 
be assistant receiving teller in the Mechanics' Bank, 
then, as now, located at No. 33 Wall Street, New 
York City. He began his duties there on Wednes- 
day, the 2d day of May, 1852. Writing to his 
mother, August 9, 1853, he says: "Less than a 
year and a half ago I was in Trenton with A. R. 
Titus, getting a salary about equal to nothing at all. 
Just as I finished with him, I received the offer from 



INTRODUCTION. 23 

the Mechanics' Bank in New York, and salary of 
1400. In one month it was $500, and, on the 1st of 
December following, it was $800, and last Thursday 
I received a very flattering offer from the Bank of 
the Commonwealth of the post of third teller, salary 
$1000." He remained at the Bank of the Common- 
wealth until March, 1862, when he left that bank to 
engage in business on his own account. 

On the 13th of December, 1853, after a courtship 
which had lasted since the summer of 1850, Father 
married Louisa Green, of Trenton. He had long 
looked forward to the time when he could have his 
Louise with him, and have a home once more. 

There was no more marked characteristic of Father 
than his love of home. His letters to his old home 
friends, after coming to Trenton, are almost pathetic 
in their tenderness. When he came to recognise his 
love for Louisa Green, he was not contented until he 
felt that those at the old home were happy in his 
happiness. He was devoted to Mother ; she was his 
most trusted councillor and friend. Few women have 
been so truly their husband's confidant as was she. 
He rarely, if ever, took an important step without 
her advice. She was happy as a young wife in help- 
ing him to do for his own father and mother and 
younger brothers and sisters, and willingly denied 
herself many comforts that their comforts might be 
increased. 



24 INTRODUCTION. 

Father's love for his mother, and his happiness, 
as he was prospered, in making her happy, is one 
of my sweetest recollections. This love all his 
children shared. We never knew our grandfather 
Fisk, although the writer was baptised by him in the 
church in Plainfield, Vt. 

On March 1, 1862, after several years of careful 
planning, Father finally started in business on his 
own account. The firm was composed of Harvey 
Fisk and A. S. Hatch as the active partners. The 
capital, -$15,000, was furnished by four silent part- 
ners; namely, Jonathan Fisk, 15000, L. E. Chitten- 
den, $5000, Wm. B. Hatch, $2500, and L. T. Merrill, 
12500. Profits were to be divided, one half to capital 
and one half to the active partners. This partner- 
ship lasted for three years. During this period the 
profits were 1407,953.32, of which amount the silent 
partners received one half. A new firm was then 
formed, composed only of Harvey Fisk and A. S. 
Hatch, as equal partners, with a capital of $250,000. 

The business of Fisk & Hatch, from the very 
beginning, was chiefly in dealing in the bonds of the 
United States Government. The firm rendered the 
greatest assistance to the Government by popularis- 
ing its bonds. The first war loans were placed 
through Jay Cooke of Philadelphia, who was ap- 
pointed by Secretary Chase as special agent of the 
Government for the sale of bonds, with power to 



INTRODUCTION. 25 

appoint sub-agents. The agents were allowed a com- 
mission of three-eighths of one per cent. Jay Cooke 
appointed Fisk & Hatch along with other firms as 
agents for New York and New England. Fisk & 
Hatch quickly distanced all the other agents. Their 
patriotism never swerved, even in the darkest hours 
of the nation's peril. They worked night as well as 
day, and their sales quickly mounted up into the 
millions. The name of Fisk & Hatch became synony- 
mous with that of the Government, so that their very 
loyalty reacted in their favour, and caused the firm 
to be regarded with a feeling of absolute confidence. 
Business rushed in upon them from all directions; 
so that in addition to their business in Government 
bonds they soon had a large brokerage business and 
a heavy line of deposits. 

It is not easy for us now to realise what it meant 
for two young men, but little known, just starting in 
business with a small, borrowed capita], to be so 
loyal, and to push the bonds of the Government to 
the front in the face of disasters on the field of 
battle. To us, who only know Government bonds as 
the resort of the most conservative investors, and who 
see these bonds selling in the market so that they 
yield the investor scarcely three per cent, it is almost 
impossible to realise that in the early sixties men 
laid down their money on the counter of the sub- 
treasury, doubting whether they would ever see it 

4 



26 INTRODUCTION. 

again. It took true courage and patriotism to loan 
money to the Government in those days by buying 
its bonds. I cannot illustrate in any better way the 
manner in which the sentiment of loyalty was 
appealed to in the first efforts to popularise the 
Government loans, than by quoting in full the fol- 
lowing confidential circular which was sent by Fisk 
& Hatch to bank officers throughout the country : — 

" We are engaged in negotiating the new five-twenty- 
year six per cent loan on behalf of the Government. We 
desire the co-operation of patriotic bank officers and 
bankers in the effort to popularise this loan, and bring it 
to the attention of the people throughout the country. 
We are satisfied that if the real facts concerning the 
extent of the Public Debt at the present time, the im- 
mense resources of the Government now being developed, 
. . . are properly laid before the people, money will 
flow into the Treasury from the sale of these bonds with 
sufficient rapidity to supply all its wants, and effectu- 
ally solve the problem of the national finances. . . . 

"The accomplishment of this object will be worth to 
our country and cause as much as many regiments of 
troops ; will inspire those who are directing our public 
affairs, and those who are fighting the nation's battles, 
with renewed zeal and courage, and promote the resolute 
and successful prosecution of the war, to the end for 
which we all hopefully look, — a permanent and sub- 
stantial peace. 

"... While thousands of our fellow-citizens are freely 
giving their lives to the cause, it is not too much for the 



INTRODUCTION. 27 

country to expect of you and of us that we should give 
our influence and our heartiest efforts to the maintenance 
of the national credit." 

I also quote the following popular circular issued 
a few years later : — 

THE NEW SEVEN-THIRTY POPULAR LOAN. 

Probably the last opportunity to obtain from the Gov- 
ernment, at par, a security that will pay interest at the 
rate of seven and three-tenths per cent per annum. 

Several reasons why the people should buy the seven- 
thirty notes : — 

They are safe beyond a contingency. 

They pay a better rate of interest than you are accus- 
tomed to receive, even upon much less reliable security. 

They are compact and convenient. 

They are readily sold, without expense, without delay. 

They can always be converted into cash, and will prob- 
ably be worth a premium. 

The interest is paid regularly, promptly, and surely. 

The interest is readily computed. 

They cannot be taxed by towns, counties, or States. 

They are always available as collateral security. 

At the end of three years from July 15, 1865, they 
will be paid off in cash or converted into the popular 
five-twenty bonds, bearing interest at six per cent in 
gold. 

They are probably the last of the Government loans. 

By buying them you loan your money to your Govern- 
ment, and assist in promptly paying off the brave boys 



28 INTRODUCTION. 

who have fought our battles, put down the rebellion, and 
are now coming home. 

If you are patriotic, if you study your own interest, if 
you stop to think, you will buy the seven-thirty notes in 
preference to investing your money in any other way. 

The first circular, just quoted from, issued in 
1862, refers to the five-twenty loan. This was the 
first great war-loan. The last great war-loan was 
the seven-thirty loan referred to in the second cir- 
cular quoted. 

Fisk <fc Hatch were very successful. Their busi- 
ness grew from year to year, so that when Father, in 
March of 1869, made a return to the assessor of his 
income for the year 1868, the assessor said to him, 
" Mr. Fisk, we do not want to know how much you 
are worth, but what vour income was during 1868." 
The return which Father made was that his income 
in 1868 was -1306,368.93. 

At the close of 1868 the capital of the firm was 
raised to % 600, 000, one half being owned by each 
partner. 

Thus it was that in less than seven years the firm 
had repaid its original borrowed capital, had accumu- 
lated a cash capital of 1600,000, besides providing 
surplus profits, out of which the partners acquired 
handsome city and country homes. The security 
transactions of the firm in 1868 were $339,551,770, 
although these were even exceeded in 1867, when 



INTRODUCTION. 29 

they amounted to over $381, 000, 000. The cash trans- 
actions, however, in 1868, were nearly $ 277, 000, 000, 
the largest in the history of the firm before or after. 
The total profits of the firm in 1868 were $708,702. 29, 
of which Father's proportion was one half, less an 
amount which he paid to his brother, Pliny Fisk, 
who, although not directly interested in the firm, 
had a silent interest of $50,000 through Father. 

I speak of these facts not to dwell on Father's 
material prosperity, but to show what fruits his pre- 
vious thirty-odd years of preparation were bearing. 
His success was, in my judgment, the legitimate out- 
come of the training in self-reliance, thoroughness, 
accuracy, truth, which his early home influences and 
his later business experience had taught him. 
Father always had a keen sense of right and wrong ; 
he was always a close censor of his own conduct, 
while one of the most charitable of men in his judg- 
ment of others. Unquestionably he had a natural 
bent for the banking business. This is shown by the 
quickness with which he came to attend to money 
matters for Andrew Titus ; it is shown by his success 
in securing rapid promotion in the banks where he 
served as clerk. Without doubt, his unremitting 
attendance to his duties as a bank clerk gave him 
a discipline and a knowledge of banking methods 
which was invaluable as a preparation for his inde- 
pendent business career. Father always seems to 



30 INTRODUCTION. 

have had the full confidence of those about him, — of 
his employers, of his customers, and of his business 
associates. His disposition was a sunny one. Al- 
though the cares of the last ten years of his life 
caused him many periods of depression, yet only his 
most intimate friends knew of them. To those 
whom he met he was always genial. Young men 
liked to counsel with him. He was never happier 
than when doing a kindness. 

Father's benevolence ran in the line of helping 
to build, improve, and maintain churches ; to en- 
courage the pastors of poor churches, and to aid 
theological students. He contributed liberally to 
the various mission boards of the Presbyterian 
Church, to the Theological Seminary at Princeton, 
and to the college. An act which gave great com- 
fort to many persons was the endowment of a bed 
in the Presbyterian Hospital. Large gifts were 
also made by him to the various mission churches 
in Trenton, and to the churches at Essex, N. Y., 
and Irasburg, Vt. In business he was most lib- 
eral. While a keen, shrewd trader, he scorned to 
take advantage of his competitors by any mean 
methods. He liked to see men about him prosper. 
He was a just, kind, and generous employer. He had 
a most sensitive feeling of responsibility to his cus- 
tomers, and to the enterprises with which he con- 
nected himself. 



INTRODUCTION. 31 

The traits of character here reviewed were causes 
both of his successes and of his failures. His keen 
business judgment, his genial temperament, his 
ability as a trader, and his patriotism led to his great 
success in handling Government bonds. His devo- 
tion to the interests of his customers, his sense of 
responsibility when he had once recommended a 
security, led him to make advances to the Chesapeake 
<fc Ohio and Central Pacific Railroad companies, 
which brought about his business reverses in 1873. 

It was in 1862-64 that Congress chartered and 
subsidised various companies organised to build a 
railroad to the Pacific coast. Theretofore all com- 
munication between the eastern and central portions 
of the country and the coast was via Cape Horn, the 
Isthmus of Panama, or by overland caravans. The 
time required to reach San Francisco from Chicago 
overland was from six to eight weeks, and the journey 
was one full of hardship and danger. 

It was felt to be a military necessity to secure an 
overland railroad. In order to induce the prompt 
construction of such a road, Congress passed laws 
offering heavy subsidies in the way of lands, and 
loaned the national credit in the shape of Govern- 
ment six per cent currency bonds, provided the needed 
roads were promptly built. The charter for the main 
trunk line ran to two different corporations. One, 
the Central Pacific, was to build from the coast east- 



32 INTRODUCTION. 

ward; the other, the Union Pacific, was to build 
from Omaha on the Missouri River, westward. The 
lines were to be extended until they met. The men 
chiefly interested in the Central Pacific were Leland 
Stanford, Timothy Hopkins, Charles Crocker, and 
C. P. Huntington, — all Californians. 

The immediate work of construction was taken in 
charge by the three men first named, while Mr. 
Huntington came to New York to attend to raising 
the money needed, purchasing supplies, and generally 
looking after the interests of the Company in the 
East. 

Naturally the promoters of these railroads, having 
secured Government bonds, thought the great popu- 
larity which bonds of the Government had attained 
would enable them readily to market the subsidy 
bonds. In this, however, they were disappointed. 
The public did not appreciate the bonds to be a 
direct Government obligation, and therefore hesi- 
tated to buy ; then, again, the bonds were specifically 
payable in "lawful money," while all other Govern- 
ment bonds were payable in coin. After several 
ineffectual efforts to market the bonds, the Union 
Pacific people finally came to Fisk & Hatch and 
asked for their co-operation. After some negotia- 
tion this was granted, and with their endorsement 
the bonds quickly came into favour and were dis- 
posed of readily. A like service was performed for 



INTRODUCTION. 33 

the Central Pacific Railroad. Thus, naturally, the 
firm became acquainted with the enterprise, and were 
induced by Mr. Huntington to undertake the nego- 
tiation of the first mortgage bonds of the Central 
Pacific Railroad. It is interesting to note at this 
point that in all the vast transactions, amounting to 
many millions of dollars, between Fisk & Hatch and 
Mr. Huntington, there were no written contracts. 
Father verbally promised Mr. Huntington to see 
him through, and this promise was kept through the 
most adverse times. When any special negotiation 
was concluded between them, it was briefly expressed 
in a pencil memorandum on a little blue ticket, and 
Father and Mr. Huntington each initialed the ticket. 
On this basis of mutual trust and respect Fisk & 
Hatch negotiated successfully $27,855,000 of Gov- 
ernment aid bonds, and some $53,000,000 of bonds 
upon the main line and branches, besides being 
instrumental in popularising the Company's stock. 
The interest on these bonds has always been promptly 
paid, and the principal of such of them as have 
matured has been met with promptness. The stock 
would to-day be one of the best investments in the 
market had not the officers and directors constructed 
rival lines to which they have diverted much busi- 
ness which would otherwise have gone over the 
pioneer line to California. 

The success of the Pacific roads, which were com- 

5 



34 INTRODUCTION. 

pleted and opened to traffic on May 10, 1869, five 
years after construction began, led Mr. Huntington 
and his associates in the East to undertake the con- 
struction of a new trunk line from the port of New- 
port News, on Chesapeake Bay, through the Virginias 
to the West. They applied to Pisk & Hatch to 
finance the Company : and they reluctantly, at least 
so far as Father was concerned, consented to do so. 

It is not my purpose to go exhaustively into the 
history of the Chesapeake & Ohio. Subsequent events 
have justified its construction, and it is to-day one 
of our most successful railroads ; but it is respon- 
sible for more than ten years of great anxiety to 
Father, which aged him prematurely, and caused his 
death when he was yet scarcely sixty years old. The 
business reverses which this connection is responsible 
for, however, brought out traits of character which 
success would never have allowed to be shown, and 
developed a legacy of true manliness which is price- 
less to his descendants. In the great book of life I 
do not doubt that the results of these years are 
written in gold. 

The cost of constructing the Chesapeake & Ohio 
Railroad proved to be several million dollars in 
excess of original estimates. It became necessary, 
therefore, after the first mortgage bonds had been 
sold, to raise a large amount of money by other 
methods. Fisk & Hatch, as the fiscal agents of the 



INTRODUCTION. 35 

Company, were induced to make temporary advances 
from time to time. These advances, in September 
of 1873, amounted to $2, 689, 000. 

On the 18th day of September, 1873, the failure of 
Jay Cooke & Co., who were financing the Northern 
Pacific Railroad, precipitated the panic of 1873, 
which was the culmination of the period of wild 
speculation which immediately followed the war. 
The directors of the Chesapeake & Ohio stood by, 
and allowed Fisk & Hatch to suspend payment. 
Such men as C. P. Huntington, A. A. Low, Wm. H. 
Aspinwall, Jonas G. Clark, David Stewart, truly 
described in the circulars in which the bonds were 
offered to the public as " some of our most conserva- 
tive and substantial business men, of large means 
and the highest standing," and whose connection 
with the enterprise was supposed to be "a guarantee 
of the most adequate protection of the interests of 
the holders of the Company's securities," not only 
allowed the interest on the bonds to go by default, 
bat also left the Company's bankers to bear the 
whole burden of the failure. In the light of sub- 
sequent events the decision not to pay the interest 
due in November of 1873 is perhaps justified; but 
no explanation can justify allowing Fisk & Hatch to 
suspend payment by refusing to assist in carrying a 
burden which was assumed for the common good. 

When Fisk & Hatch suspended payment in 1873, 



36 INTRODUCTION. 

their liabilities exceeded eight million of dollars. 
During the three months of the suspension of busi- 
ness about S4, 000, 000 of liabilities were paid. On 
the balance the firm secured an extension of from 
one to four years. The unsecured liabilities to 
depositors amounted to #1,298,186; of this amount 
$421,313 was paid at once, and the remainder, 
1876,873, extended over a period of two years at 
seven per cent interest. 

The " loans payable " at date of resumption 
amounted to $2,952,409. Of these, those secured by 
Central Pacific bonds were extended over a period of 
three years, and those secured by Chesapeake & Ohio 
bonds were extended over a period of four years ; 
interest in each case to accrue at seven per cent. 
The principal assets of the firm were a claim against 
the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, secured by about 
$4,500,000 of the Company's bonds, for $2,700,000, 
and Chesapeake & Ohio bonds and stock amounting 
at par to $737,000, and valued at $646,000. 

In 1874 and 1875 the business of the firm was 
fairly good, yielding a net profit for the two years of 
about $300,000. In 1874 a further extension to 
December 31, 1876, was secured from depositors 
and collateral security given. 

At the close of 1875 about $750,000 of 1873 in- 
debtedness had been paid with seven per cent interest ; 
but in the adjustment of accounts with the Central 



INTRODUCTION. 37 

Pacific Railroad the firm's indebtedness was increased 
some 1830,000, although, had they in 1873 sold out 
the collaterals to their loans to this Company, they 
would scarcely have brought the face of the loans. 
Father always felt that in view of this fact the final 
settlement of accounts by which Mr. Huntington 
claimed the full benefit of the advanced values real- 
ised for these securities was unjust, especially in view 
of the fact that it was only by his personal efforts 
that these loans were not peremptorily closed out in 
1873, and that later on the bonds were sold to good 
advantage. 

In 1876 came "the awful pinch and terrible 
shrinkage," so that the total holdings of the firm 
of Chesapeake & Ohio securities, including the col- 
laterals to the Company's loan, would not have 
brought 1400,000. At one time in 1876 Fisk & 
Hatch owed three million of dollars, and did not 
have ten thousand dollars toward paying it, but they 
did not give up. They asked and secured from their 
creditors holding Chesapeake & Ohio securities as 
collateral a further extension of ten years, and from 
their depositors a further extension of three years. 
The firm settled with the Chesapeake & Ohio in the 
fall of 1876, taking the securities for the debt. 
If these securities had been sold at this time, there 
would have been a loss on this account of at least 
two million dollars. 



38 INTRODUCTION. 

The business of 1876 showed a loss of over 
1200,000 ; the 1877 business a loss of nearly $250,000 ; 
the business of 1878 a profit of $72,000. The net 
result, therefore, of the business of the five years 
following the panic, 1874-78 inclusive, was a loss 
of about $80,000. This was on the new business; 
and then, beside, was the terrible shrinkage in the 
securities in the old account. 

At last, in 1879, following the resumption of specie 
payments, the turn came. The firm took a promi- 
nent part in the marketing of the bonds sold by the 
Government to provide for refunding the maturing 
five-twenties. The profits of this year were over 
$500,000. They were thus enabled to pay $430,000 
on account of the 1873 indebtedness. In this year, 
also, the reorganisation of the Chesapeake & Ohio 
Railroad was perfected. General business conditions 
began to improve. Chesapeake & Ohio affairs got in 
better shape, and in 1880 its securities once more 
were marketable at prices which Avould have per- 
mitted the firm to liquidate, and pay its old loans 
secured by the bonds of this Company, had not other 
large holders come into the market with their bonds, 
so that Fisk & Hatch, in self-defence, had to stand 
aside. They were enabled, however, to sell a suffi- 
cient amount to pay the principal sum to all creditors 
except the Central Pacific Railroad Company. The 
interest was paid in full at seven per cent, on all 



INTRODUCTION. 39 

accounts except those secured by Chesapeake & Ohio 
bonds and stocks ; on these the interest was com- 
puted at seven per cent, and new loans protected by 
Chesapeake & Ohio stocks with twenty per cent mar- 
gin were made to cover this interest. These loans 
bore interest at five per cent. In 1881, in order to 
protect the market, the firm were compelled to buy 
of the Newark Savings Institution a large block of 
Chesapeake & Ohio securities for which they paid the 
Institution one million dollars in cash. This tran- 
saction resulted, in the end, in a loss to the firm 
of some $300,000. 

The business of the firm was reasonably good in 
1881, and very poor in 1882. In April of 1883 
Father's health gave way, as the result of the terrible 
strain he had been under since 1873. In June he 
was compelled to give up business entirely, and did 
not return to the office to transact any business until 
May, 1884. A great part of this time, from August, 
1883, he was in Europe. This was his first real rest 
in all the years since 1873. 

The period of Father's absence from business 
(June, 1883, to May, 1884) was one of apparent 
prosperity for the firm. Mr. Hatch, on account of 
the ease in money, and on account of anticipated 
legislation at Washington, which, if perfected, would 
have led to a large demand for Government bonds 
from the National Banks, entered into an extensive 



40 INTRODUCTION. 

speculation in these bonds. He also purchased a 
large line of choice investment bonds, and indulged 
in a losing speculation in Central Pacific stocks. 
There was a steady shrinkage of values of all second- 
class securities during this period. 

On May 6, 1884, came the failure of the Marine 
Bank and of Grant & Ward, and on May 14 the 
Metropolitan National Bank suspended. Money 
which had been a drug in the market jumped from 
two per cent per annum to one per cent a day (three 
hundred and sixty-five per cent per annum), and 
everything looked black. Father was hastily sum- 
moned from his country home, where he had been 
staying since his return from Europe a few days 
previously. 

He arrived in New York at four o'clock on the 
afternoon of May 14, and, on consultation with 
Mr. Hatch, he decided that the firm must again sus- 
pend payment, — and, apparently, the results of 
hard, patient work of years all be lost on account of 
the mismanagement of one year. He found that the 
firm were carrying between thirteen and fourteen 
million dollars of Government bonds, and had lia- 
bilities of nearly twenty million dollars. In his 
own words, " I told Mr. Hatch that we must stop, 
that there was no other course we could pursue, that 
I could not see any daylight to help us, and we could 
not honestly take in another dollar of money, and 



INTRODUCTION. 41 

things were in that peculiar condition outside of us 
that we could not hope to borrow. We were not 
bankrupt, but we were caught, that was all, by this 
great load of Government bonds. " In another con- 
nection he speaks of " my terrible shock and surprise 
at the situation and grave error of judgment on 
the part of Mr. Hatch in this large purchase of 
Governments. " 

It was not Father's way, however, to give up. He 
set to work at once to untangle the snarled condition 
of the firm's affairs, and within two weeks every 
creditor had been paid in full, or the money provided 
with which to pay him. The only exceptions were 
the Central Pacific Railroad Company, which took 
in settlement of its account the Chesapeake & Ohio 
securities which it held, and the old Chesapeake 
& Ohio creditors of 1873, the interest on whose 
loans was still unpaid, who took to account the 
Chesapeake & Ohio securities which they held as col- 
lateral. In case these securities were immediately 
marketed, the accounts would have shown a small 
loss, in the case of the Central Pacific a considerable 
one ; but they afterwards appreciated so that no loss 
would have been shown on any account, except, 
possibly, a small loss on that of the Central Pacific. 

There was only one other account which was com- 
promised, and that was the one of the Newark Sav- 
ings Institution. Their book account of $850,000 

6 



42 INTRODUCTION. 

was paid in full with interest. Besides their book 
account, they had on deposit with Fisk & Hatch 
about $2,000,000 in Government bonds, under an 
agreement by which in consideration of paying five 
to six per cent interest on their book account, Fisk 
& Hatch were permitted to use the bonds or their 
money equivalent in their Government Bond busi- 
ness, provided other securities of equal value were 
kept laid out to protect them. Mr. Hatch had not 
been careful to know that he had a full equivalent 
always on hand. Still, when Father came to figure 
up on that memorable 14th of May, he found securi- 
ties enough in the vault to equal the market value of 
the Government bonds. These securities were turned 
over to the Savings Institution, and afterwards 
accepted by it in full settlement of this account, and 
finally produced very nearly the face value of the 
debt, 

It may be said, therefore, with substantial accuracy 
that Fisk & Hatch finally paid their creditors in full 
with interest. The interest account was enormous, 
and enough to take the heart out of any man. The 
interest paid for carrying the securities held at the 
time of the suspension in 1873 until accounts were 
finally closed in 1884, amounted to about 11,300,000. 
The net loss incident to the business of 1873 was 
$951,688. 

After the accounts were made up, prior to resuming 



INTRODUCTION. 43 

business in 1884, it was found that -1600,000 would 
be required to pay all creditors in full. Father and 
Mr. Hatch each paid in one half, and thus it was 
that they were enabled to meet all claims upon them. 
To accomplish this, Father had to use moneys which 
had grown from a careful and wise handling of a 
part of his early profits made prior to 1873, which 
he had at the time given to Mother. Several times 
before this fund had been used to tide the firm 
over a tight place, and now, although the creditors 
of Fisk & Hatch had no claim whatever upon it, 
Mother did not hesitate, but immediately told Father 
to use it. They both felt that the good name of the 
firm and his good name must be preserved, no matter 
what sacrifice was needed. 

The firm resumed business June 2, 1884, but 
little was done except to liquidate the business ; and 
finally, in March, 1885, twenty-three years after the 
partnership was formed, it was dissolved. 

The gross earnings for the entire period were $7,478,662.84 
The expenses and losses 5,806,426.37 

The net profits $1,672,236.47 

Paid original special partners 152,982.49 

Balance for Father and Mr. Hatch . . . $1,519,253.98 

Or about $33,000 per annum each. 

The total cash transactions of the firm were 
13,760,977,774, and the security transactions were 

14,383,069,709. 



44 INTRODUCTION. 

From beginning to end I believe both men worked 
on the principle that "a good name is to be pre- 
ferred to great riches." They always considered 
the interests of their clients. When they made 
money, they were generous to a fault ; and after 1873 
they worked literally night as well as day, against 
all sorts of obstacles, in order not only to pay their 
own creditors in full with interest, but to save the 
credit of the Central Pacific Railroad Company, and 
to retrieve the fortunes of the Chesapeake & Ohio 
Railroad Company. Having sold and recommended 
the bonds of these companies, they felt in honour 
bound to make them good if by any possibility this 
could be accomplished The Central Pacific has 
always met its obligations to its bondholders, even 
in the most trying times. The Chesapeake & Ohio 
has at last vindicated its conception and construc- 
tion, and tho.se who have been able to hold on to its 
securities all these years have made little loss of 
either principal or interest, although in the darkest 
days the bonds fell to almost nothing in the market. 
Of course the holders of the second mortgage bonds 
did not fare as well as the first mortgage bond- 
holders; but the bonds held by the general public 
were nearly all firsts, the seconds being mainly held 
by the "insiders," Pisk <fc Hatch having the greater 
proportion themselves. 

Unquestionably the suspension of 1884, and the 



INTRODUCTION. 45 

additional loss attending it, might have been avoided 
if Mr. Hatch had been content to do a small, safe 
business during Father's absence. Mr. Hatch was a 
valuable partner, loyal, energetic, and hard-working, 
but he was not a o-ood leader. 



» 



On the 26th day of March, 1885, Father associated 
his three oldest boys with him in business, under the 
name of Harvey Fisk & Sons, thus accomplishing 
a long-cherished plan. The new firm had hardly 
started, when Father found his health again failing, 
and was compelled, in March of 1886, to go to 
Carlsbad. He remained abroad until October. Then 
followed a period of nearly two years of hard, ener- 
getic, successful work. Father seemed to have a 
new lease of life, and threw himself into business 
again with a joyousness and heartiness which it was 
good to see. The work of these years was equiva- 
lent, in its results to the firm, to ten years of ordinary 
work. 

The Government found itself possessed of enor- 
mous and steadily increasing revenues, far in excess 
of its needs. The cry was raised, "Reduce taxes, 
distribute the surplus to the States, increase pen- 
sions. " All sorts of schemes were concocted to rob 
the National Treasury. Father took the ground that 
the proper use to make of the surplus was to buy up 
and cancel the bonds of the Government. He claimed 



46 INTRODUCTION. 

that the taxes were not excessive, that the time 
might come when the full revenue would be needed, 
and that in the interval no better use could be made 
of revenue than to cancel debt. These views he 
advocated in a series of circulars. These circulars 
were sent to every newspaper in the land. They 
were widely quoted, and, on the whole, approved. 
The plan proposed was adopted by the Administra- 
tion, and large purchases of bonds followed. Harvey 
Fisk & Sons supplied by far the greater proportion 
of the bonds. 

This "campaign," as Father was fond of calling 
his great business efforts, really ended his active 
business career. In August of 1888 he was for the 
third time compelled to give up work. He went to 
Europe once more. Much of the time while there 
he was ill, part of the time confined to his bed. In 
April of 1889 he returned home, and we had our 
dear Father with us again for a few months. Al- 
though during the last year of his life he was unable 
to attend to business, he took a lively interest in it 
to the very end. 

Father lived for his family. His great ambition 
was to have his " boys " firmly established in the 
banking business. He lived to see that end attained. 
His last business act, a few weeks before his death, 
was to sign a check, making a substantial addition 
to his capital, as a token of his confidence in his 



INTRODUCTION. 47 

"boys," and his appreciation of the manner in which 
they were cond acting the business. 

In closing I cannot better epitomise Father's life 
than by using his own words : — 

" Life has always been so earnest and real to me : 
there 's never been much romance in it, — my dear good 
wife and children are realities ; my work is real ; right 
and wrong are real ; God is real, the Bible and all its 
truths are real, — every word in it is real ; its promises, 
exhortations, warnings, pleadings, — all are so real. 
' Thus saith the Lord ' from my youngest days was al- 
ways enough. I never question, I never argue against 
it ; my faith is strong, and, being strong, I know full 
well that 'faith without works is vain.'" 

And again : — 

" What is, will be ; ' what cannot be cured must be 
endured.' Sixty miles to business, handling millions 
each day, from long habit deciding matters of great 
moment all day long on the instant ; sixty miles home 
again, quiet evenings, good rest ; and then all over 
again, until at last the machine will wear out, and then, 
perhaps, who knows, to be taken where all the experi- 
ence here is fitting him for a grander, nobler sphere of 
usefulness in the great city of our Lord. I have no 
thought that the eternal future is to be a life of idleness, 
no expectations that the new life is to be something 
strange and awfully grand. This life is the mystery." 



48 INTRODUCTION. 

And here is the final summing of his character, 
contained in an injunction to one of his children : — 

" Dear May, try to make your life noble and good, 
above small things, full of patience and forgiveness, 
striving to do your part well, and so the world may be 
blessed that you lived in it." 

No words of mine can so fittingly summarise this 
beautiful character, "full of patience," "above small 
things," "striving to do his part well." 

Father's closing days of this earthly life were 
spent at the beautiful country home which he loved 
so well. After returning home from Florida in the 
spring of 1890, he grew gradually weaker, until the 
beautiful autumn days came, during which we 
watched the life of our dear one fade away, so slowly 
and peacefully. 1 I am glad they were so happy and 
contented. He never knew how sad our hearts were 
when we were smiling and cheerful with him. 

" The years of trying to pay every one the last cent 
due them," "the sleepless nights," "the days of toil 
and trouble," "the mystery of this life," — all was 
over. The duties of the eternal home, " duties to be 
well performed, " were taken up. 

1 Father died November 8, 1890. 



[From a note-book in which Father kept a record of certain 
trust investments.] 

The sure road to ivealth is by regular savings and 
good investments. Take no chances, no risks. Bug 
no cheap things. Let alone all " great promises." 
Never run in debt. Pay cash. Give of your abun- 
dance regularly to the Lord. This to all my children. 

HARVEY FTSK. 

January 1, 1882. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 



To Rev. Joel Fisk. 

Bakersfield, Sept. 8, 1846. 

I GET along better than I expected in the French 
class. There are seven in the class. They have 
all studied it before : one young lady has studied it 
six years, — she can translate very well, and talk it 
some. Once in a while I tell them an anecdote in 
French, and have them translate all they can of it. 
That young lady who has studied it six years can 
generally translate most all I say. I wish you would 
ask C. to ask Harriet Randal if she would lend me 
her book of anecdotes in French if she is not using 
them. Will you send out that book and my lead- 
pencil the first chance ? I left that at home some- 
where, I do not know where. . . . 

The bell rings at half-past eight in the morning, 
and commences tolling at ten minutes before nine, 
and tolls till nine, for the students to come in to 



52 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

drayers. Directly after prayers, the class in gram- 
mar recites ; after the grammar class, I go to my 
room and stay till eleven, and then go to hear the 
French class, which takes till twelve or half-past ; 
after that class I go to dinner, and then go to my 
room and stay till quarter to three, and then go to 
my other lessons. I wish Clarinda would come here ; 
I am sure she would like it very much. . . . 

Give my love to mother and all the rest of them, 
and tell Richard Henry I should like to peep in once 
in a while and see him cut up some of his roguish 
tricks. Answer this as soon as possible. 

To Pliny Fish. 

Bakersfield, Dec. — , 1846. 

... I am how attending Bakersfield Academical In- 
stitution, partly as a teacher, and partly as a scholar. 
I am teaching the class in French, which probably you 
know by the catalogue I sent you. ... I give Mrs. 
Spaulding, the preceptor's wife, four lessons a week 
in pronouncing the French. She has taught the class 
several terms. I believe there are some words she 
does not pronounce very well. 

You perhaps may wish to know how much I get. 
As to that I cannot tell definitely, but I think it is 
about enough to pay my expenses. I think now I 
shall stay here till I am fitted for college, if nothing 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 53 

happens to prevent. I wish you were here to go to 
school with me ; it would make it so pleasant. . . . 

There are sixty students here this term, which is a 
large number for winter. They never had over 
thirty-eight before, — they have the most scholars in 
the spring and fall. A great many come in then to 
prepare to teach in the summer and winter, — last fall 
term there were one hundred and fifty-one. Clarinda 
is here this term ; she is well. How long are you 
going to stay in M., and how do you like it ? If you 
have got Davies' Legendre, Geometry and Surveying, 
and do not wish to use them, I wish you would 
send them out home, and they will send them to me 
the first chance. They use them here, and it will 
cost a good deal to buy new ones ; and also if you will 
send me some pens and holders, I will pay you when 
you call for it. . . . 

To Rev. Joel Fisk. 

Bakersfield, Dec. 13, 1847. 
Having a few leisure moments, I thought I could 
not better improve them than in writing a few lines 
home. I am boarding now at Mr. Pratt's. It is a 
very good place ; I like it full as well as I did at Mr. 
Spaulding's. Levi and a young man by the name of 
Henry are my room-mates. We have two rooms, — 
one large one, in which we study and two of us sleep, 



54 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

and a small one adjoining. Our furniture consists 
of a stove, two tables, four chairs, a clock, a settee, a 
wood-box, a small cupboard without a door, two beds, 
and a washstand. Dan is boarding at Mr. Shattuck's. 
I am studying grammar, reading, book-keeping, chem- 
istry, and geometry ; there is no class in intellectual 
philosophy. 

To the Same. 

Bakersfield, Feb. 29, 1848. 
. . . Last Saturday I received a letter from Uncle 
Jonathan and another from Pliny. Uncle has got a 
situation for me in Mr. Titus's store in Trenton ; that is, 
if I accept of it, and I think I shall, if you don't think 
contrary. He says it is a first-rate place. Mr. Titus is 
a very pleasant man, and has good business habits. He 
wants me to come for four years. My board and 
washing and $25, first year ; $40, second ; §>b&, third ; 
and $70, fourth. The salary is not very large, but that 
is not so much the question as a good situation. There 
is only one thing which I don't like, and that is the 
idea of stopping four years. I think it is most too 
long. He ought not to require more than three, but 
then I sha'n't stand about that. On the whole, I think 
I had better go. You know and 1 know that I cannot 
always live at home. I must do something for myself, 
and it is high time I was about it. I want you to 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 55 

write me a letter, and tell me what you think about it. 
Write by the first mail. Uncle wanted me to write as 
soon as possible and tell him what I thought about 
coming, and I think I shall write by the mail to-mor- 
row and tell him I have no objections to coming. He 
said he was going to write a letter to you. I presume 
you have received it before this time. 

If after due consideration it should be thought best I 
should go, — and he wants me to come as soon as navi- 
gation opens, which I suppose will be about the first 
of May, — then I should want to come home some time 
before the middle of April. Suppose I stop half of the 
term, and that will take to the first of April ; but when 
you write out, you can tell me all about these things. 
Pliny's letter I shall enclose in this, and you can see 
what he thinks about it. . . . 

I am getting along in my studies very well so far. 
Had I not better take lessons in writing ? . . . 

When you write out, I should be much obliged to you 
if you would send me a little of the needful. I am 
most out ; stage-fare, postage, paper, mending boots, 
and one thing and another have taken it off in short 
order, though I have about 37 J cents left. 

Be sure and write by the first mail and give me a 
few of your ideas. . . . 



56 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To the Same. 

Bakersfield, March 21, 1848. 

I have been in to-night and settled with Mr. 
Spaulding. He allowed me 12.50 for the French. I had 
had two books, a geometry and surveying, price 81.25 
each, which just balanced ; therefore I am square with 
him. If I stop here till next week Saturday, it will be 
just five weeks and a half, and my board bill will come to 
$6. 87 \. If you have not money to pay now, I suppose 
it would be best to pay all but the $6, and that can 
easily be sent out in a letter as soon as convenient. . . . 

To tell the truth of it, Father, I should like to go 
to school a spell longer, — say, a year. There 's not so 
much fun in it, after all, — the thought of giving up my 
studies and going into business ; but then education is 
not all to be derived from books, — that is, only a 
small part of a good education. I want to know 
which man enjoys himself most and has the most in- 
fluence, — a book-worm, or a man that is acquainted 
with the world, the manners, customs, habits, etc., of 
those around him in the world. . . . 

To Clarinda C. Fisk. 

Trenton, Sept. 8, 1848. 
Not being very busy this afternoon, I thought I 
would write you a few lines ; but as I shall be liable 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 57 

to be disturbed any moment, you must not expect 
anything great. I am getting along as well as could 
be expected for a Canadian way off here among these 
Jersey folks. Why, it 's a wonder they have not 
scared me out of my wits before this time. Why, 
they really thought I was a regular born John Bull, 
and, of course, because I came from Canada, I was an 
" ignoramus," — know-nothing ; therefore they tried to 
load me with their great stories about the manners 
and customs of the Americans. Ha ! ha ! After all, 
I don't think these Jerseymen and Trentonians are 
a model for all mankind. 

There are some of the greatest specimens among 
them ever I saw. They don't half of them know 
where Canada is, and when they speak of it, they talk 
as if it was clear out of the world, and, anyway, 
beyond the boundaries of the civilised world. I hear 
them speaking very often of Montreal's being on the 
opposite side of the river from Niagara Falls. Mr. 
Titus, talking to me the other day about Montreal, 
says, " I have a good mind to take a trip off there 
and see Niagara Falls at the same time ! " " Well," 
says I, " you would have to go out of a direct line to 
Montreal to go to Niagara." " Why, no," says he, 
" that is just on my route there. Montreal is only a 
little way from Niagara, and I could not go to M. 
any other way than by passing by Niagara." Well, I 
had to laugh, — I could not help it ; and I could tell 

8 



58 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

you many other anecdotes relating to these strange 
people, if I had time. 

I expect now, for two months to come, we shall be 
very busy. Fall trade is just commencing, and there 
is some prospect of its being very brisk ; therefore I 
expect I shall not have much time to write, read, or 
do anything else but attend to business. You must 
not wait at home for me to write before you do, but 
write as often as you can. I hate this formality of 
waiting till you receive an answer before you write 
again. It does not seem hardly friendly. I may not 
get time for two months to write to you again, but 
don't be afraid to write to me every week if I don't 
answer you right away. As for postage, that does 
not cost me anything ; " boss " pays all our postage. 

We are having pretty stirring times about the com- 
ing election. Last week the Whig State Convention 
was held here, and there were some great speeches 
made by great men. Some of the wise men from 
Washington were here, and they kept up their speechi- 
fying till midnight ; and Wednesday the Democrats 
had their convention, which ended in gas ; and in the 
course of a week or two the Free Soil men are going 
to have their blow up. . . . 

I have a splendid room, nicely carpeted, well fur- 
nished; and my room-mate is Mr. Potts' son, about 
my age. He has a library of about 100 volumes in 
the room, from which I get plenty of reading, but I 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 59 

don't have much time to improve it. I believe I 
have got into Mrs. TVs good graces, — anyway she is 
mighty good to me. About every night when I go 
home she offers me something to eat, — a piece of 
watermelon, some peaches, almonds, icecream, or some 
sort of stuff or other. I have had as many peaches 
as I want this fall. Oh ! but it is enough to make 
a man's mouth water to think of it ! Only think of 
half a dozen getting around a large basket of nice, 
large, red, mellow peaches, and eating till you 're 
full! I wish some of you were here to enjoy these 
good things with me ; and there 's another thing I 
like to forgot, and that is sweet potatoes. At first 
I did not like them, but now they're as good as 
tomatoes. 

What are you all at, at home ? How are you all, 
and how is the garden getting along ? Is Father 
going to stop there much longer, and are you going 
to school this winter anywhere ? Answer soon, and 
write all you know and a good deal more too. . . . 

9th. 
In Father's last letter he spoke of the temperance 
cause as being very low there ; but it is still worse here. 
There is a great deal of drinking done, and I don't 
know of many men here but what will drink. They 
think drinking in moderation is no harm, and I have 
been invited to drink since I have been here, but of 



60 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

course always refuse. I have been invited to drink by 
two of the most influential men in this place at private 
houses, and sometimes get laughed at for refusing. 

Even the Rev. takes his glass occasionally ; and 

that is altogether against my principles, for a minister 
to drink. 

So you see these folks are not much behind you in 
that scale, and in many other things I don't think 
they come up to the mark quite. And I have heard 
even Aunt recommend brandy and water for a cold 
(but you mustn't let her know that I tell on her). 
When Mr. Titus was moving, he had us all come 
up in the evening after the store closed to help 
move. After we had got through working, Mrs. 
Titus and Mr. Potts go down cellar, and get the 
wine bottle, and invite all hands to step up and 
drink. They all took of it but one of the boys and 
myself (think of that!). 1 tried not to disgrace 
Father's principles, but am continually preaching 
temperance. . . . 

To Mrs. Joel Fisk. 

Trentox, Dec. 11, 1848. 

We have just shut up store for to-night, and I 

thought I would sit down and write a letter home, 

though you must not expect a very learned one ; for 

after the fatigue of the day, and being on your feet 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 61 

from 6 a. M. until 8 p. M.,one does not feel much like 
writing letters. But then, I like to hear from home 
once in a while, and I presume you also like to hear 
from me ; therefore I will try and write a few lines. 

Looking at the date, I see it is just seven months 
since I came to Trenton, and it was just ahout this 
time (8 p. m.) when I first came into the store. Then 
I did not know a calico from a muslin-de-laine, a 
satinet from a cassimere, a piece of linen from a 
piece of cotton goods. I could n't stand behind the 
counter with any face to sell goods, and — the conclu- 
sion of the whole matter — I was an absolute greenhorn 
as regarded a merchant's business. Well, I went to 
work determined to learn all about goods, — how to 
sell them and to be a thorough-going merchant, and 
also one great object to please and get the confidence 
of my employer. Now to tell you how I have suc- 
ceeded. In the first place, there is not an article 
scarcely but what I know the name of it, and know 
where to find it, and, again, the quality of goods. To 
be a good judge of goods is one of the principal and 
most important things for a merchant. I can tell 
about what a great many goods are worth by examin- 
ing them. When I first came, I did not have any idea 
of the worth of goods. I would as soon have said a 
piece of goods worth 25 cts. a yard was worth a dol- 
lar as not, or a dollar piece for 25 cts. Then as to 
selling goods, that I could n't do. I did not know 



62 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

what to say, nor anything else, and I was ashamed 
to wait on a customer; but now I'll venture to say 
there are only two boys in the store who can sell 
goods better than I can. Of the others, one has been 
in the store two years, another between one and two 
years, and I sell as many goods as either of them. 
Then, again, I have several proofs that Mr. Titus is 
very well pleased, and has confidence in me ; and on 
the whole I think I have succeeded full as well as I 
expected so far. I have not written all this lingo 
to praise myself, only to let you know how I am get- 
ting on. . . . 

Tuesday Morning, Dec. 12. 

... I suppose you would like to know how I em- 
ploy my Sundays. I go to church in the morning, to 
Sabbath-school in the afternoon, to church again in the 
evening, and after church to a Bible class, got up by 
the boarders at Miss Rice's ; so you see my time is 
employed. 

Uncle and Aunt are very kind to me. I never saw 
a man in Uncle's situation so much respected as he is. 
Any new thing that is started they come to him about 
it first, and get his advice. But it is time for break- 
fast ; therefore I must close this long epistle, for I 
shall not have time to write after breakfast and the 
mail leaves at noon. There is a continual run to 
me to interpret French phrases. . . . 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 63 

To the Same. 

Trenton, Feb. 14, 1849. 
. . . Aunt was in here (the store) to-day, and said 
she had received a letter from Pliny, stating he had 
received one from home, and that you had some 
thought of leaving Philipsburg. Well, now, it is just 
my opinion if there is a good place offered that it 
would be your duty to embrace it. . . . There are no 
schools in Philipsburg which are such as the children 
should have the advantage of, and that is a great 
thing, and one of the most important. Good schools 
at the commencement of life are everything to one 
who wants to get anything of an education, and then 
I think Father's labours are too hard for him. His 
health will not admit of his labouring so hard, and 
travelling all over the country so much. Cold and 
wet, rain or shine, he is going. His motto is, 
" When duty calls, 't is mine to obey, " and he follows 
it up to the letter. Therefore I think that if a good 
place has been offered with a competent salary, it 
would be duty to go. You know, Mother, that I 
most always write and say what I think ; so you must 
not take offence at anything I write, but let it go 
for what it will bring. I want some of you to write 
soon and tell me all the circumstances and all about 
it, for I want to hear. . . . 

A week from last Thursday I commenced with one 



64 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

of the boys that has been here about two and a half 
years to see who would sell the most goods, and up 
to last Saturday night he had sold $187 worth, and 
I $191.50; so you see I was ahead, and then when 
you remember that this is the dullest time of the 
year, you will see we both did first-rate; but consid- 
ering the time and experience he had had, you will 
see I was a great deal ahead. Mr. Titus notices it, 
and I believe it will be for my benefit. The clock 
is striking ten, so I must start for the house or I 
will get locked out ; so good-bye for to-night. 

Feb. 15. 

Not being very busy this morning, I thought I 
would write a few lines more before business com- 
mences. Mr. Titus is in Philadelphia now, buying 
goods. He is going to buy this time a large lot of 
muslins (cotton cloth you call it) and calicoes to sell 
at six and one fourth cents. We have them to sell 
at that price that are over a yard wide, and very 
thick and firm. Only think of getting a nice dress 
for fifty cents ! 

If those temperance speeches and poetry of Father's 
are published, I wish you would send me a copy of 
each. The people here, as a general thing, tipple 
more than they do at Philipsburg. You don't see 
many drunk, but there is a good deal of drinking 
done. I get laughed at and joked about my temper- 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 65 

ance principles a great deal, but as they find I don't 
mind it, they are getting tired of it; and then there 
is another evil which I think is as bad if not worse 
than intemperance, and that is card-playing. To 
let you see how far that extends, I will relate one 
circumstance, and you may judge for yourself. At 
a certain party in the place there were invited an 
elder and a prominent member of the First Presbyte- 
rian Church (the party was given by a lady and her 
husband who were not pious). In the course of the 
evening, cards, champagne, wines of all descriptions, 
brandy, etc., were served, and that elder and church 
member sat down at a table with some impenitent 
men, played cards, and partook of the wine as freely 
as any of them. Oh ! consistency, thou art a jewel ! 
Now I will tell you the effects of this. The next 
night the boys here at the store got hold of a pack of 
cards, and all went to playing. Well, I, of course, 
as an enemy of such things, told them plainly my 
idea of the subject, and the effects that would follow 
in its train. But all to no use. They would say they 
could not see where the evil lay ; that if the elders 
and church members would play and drink, they 
could see no evil in it, and still keep on playing. 
But they have found me out, and now they call me 
conscientious. But that is a very good name, I tell 
them ; and if I can be so in all my actions, I should 
be very glad. 

9 



66 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

Now for another case. The trustees of the High 
School meet once a month at their different private 
houses to transact business. They are composed of 
an elder in the Presbyterian Church, a member of 
the same, and an Episcopal minister, and several 
other gentlemen. The last time they met it was at 
the house of the elder. After they got through their 
business, he had a supper prepared for them, and 
after supper he brought out his champagne, wine, 
and other liquors, and they all got tipsy together, — 
minister, elder, and all, — none refused. This is 
worse than cards, is it not ? And now do you think 
it strange that with such an example before them, the 
young should be led to do such things themselves ? 

I have spun out this letter till it is getting very 
long, and I shall have to stop before a great while, 
or I may tire your patience reading it. I wish if 
you could get hold of any tracts or anything of the 
kind on card-playing, its effects, etc., you would 
post them on to me. 

Uncle and Aunt are very good and kind to me 
indeed. Last New Year's Aunt made me a present 
of a nice silk cravat and two pocket-handkerchiefs. 
Aunt wrote to you a few days ago, and I presume 
told you all about my actions here, etc. Enough to 
say I have not united with the church yet. I have 
had several conversations with Uncle and Aunt on 
the subject, and some time I will write and give you 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 67 

my reasons, etc., for not doing so. I would this 
time, but I have not time nor space in this letter to 
do so. You know I would not do so without some 
cause. . . . 

How are you all at home, — Father, Aunt Hannah 
(that good old soul), Sarah, Mary, Daniel, and Richard 
Henry ? Give my love to them all, and tell them 
they are not forgotten. I wish they would write me 
a joint letter. Anyway, I want some of you to write 
soon, for it has been so long since I have heard 
directly from home that I have almost lost the run. 
As I have not time to look over this long letter, and 
see that all is correct, you must take it as it is 
without being revised and corrected. 

To Rev. Joel Fisk. 

Trenton, March 27, 1849. 
... I have been here now nearly a year, and I pre- 
sume if I should tell you how my account stood you 
would think I had been very extravagant indeed ; but 
I have not got a single article of clothing hardly with- 
out first consulting Aunt about it. My bill for shoe 
leather alone will amount to about twelve or fifteen 
dollars, and I have used the greatest economy, — 
have had them patched and mended up till they were 
not fit to be seen. Pliny tells me that his boot bill 
alone last year amounted to thirty dollars. I am 



68 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

going to have a talk with Mr. Titus at the end of 
this year, and see if he will not increase my salary. 
There is only one clerk in the store that sells more 
goods than I do or does more than I do. We '11 see 
the 1st of May what Mr. T. thinks about me. 

Uncle and Aunt are very kind to me. I don't 
know how I shall ever repay them for their disin- 
terested kindness and friendship. I don't believe 
there is a man in Trenton more respected, or in 
whom there is more confidence placed, than in 
Uncle. . . . 

I received that pamphlet you sent me. It was 
very good, but not exactly the thing; for they plead 
that they are not gamblers, only playing for amuse- 
ment. 

To Clarinda C. Fisk. 

Trenton, April 13, 1849. 

... I think as you that brothers and sisters living 
apart so that they cannot see each other, should and 
ought to keep up a correspondence, so that they may 
not lose the run of each other's ideas altogether. 

It has been a year within one month since I came 
to Trenton, and I can say that I never spent the 
same amount of time more pleasantly or satisfactorily 
to myself before, feeling independent, and knowing 
that I am supporting myself, and also learning a 
business to pursue through life. A pleasant situa- 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 69 

tion, etc., all tends to make it very pleasant and 
agreeable. You may sometimes wonder if I don't 
wish I had continued in my studies, gone through 
college, become a learned man (and died a dough 
head), professor of some college, teacher of some 
school, etc. But no, I looked higher than that, and 
determined to become a rag merchant, to learn a 
little of the world, of men and of common sense, and 
not shut myself up within the walls of some Babel 
tower, to teach young Pumpkins how to expand and 
dilate. Yes, I am glad I came into this business, 
left my books, for I can say I am perfectly satisfied 
with my lot, and think that my chances of success 
are ten to one greater than they would have been in 
the other case. You must not take what I have said 
about teaching as ridiculing it, for you spoke of it 
as if you were going to try it, and I think if you 
want to earn your living that there is no better way 
nor manner in which you could do it. . . . 

Uncle is one of the best and most upright men I 
ever saw. There is not a man in Trenton more 
liked, or in whom there is more confidence placed, 
than in him. It seems that every new thing that is 
started they apply to him to take charge of it. He 
is now secretary and treasurer of no less than four 
companies, — the Savings-Bank, Health Insurance 
Company, Life and Fire Company, and some other, 
and now they have applied to him to become city 
treasurer. . . . 



70 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To Rev. Joel Fisk. 

Trenton, Sept. 5, 1849. 

. . . Well, how are you all getting along at home 
now among the barbarians? In your letter a few 
days since you spoke of expecting a call from Milton. 
For my part I hope you will accept it; that is, if 
they can support you well. In the first place you 
ought to be somewhere where there are better advan- 
tages for education than at Philipsburg, and, if I 
mistake not, there is a good academy at Milton. 
Now is the time when the children are commencing 
their education. They should commence it right, 
lay a sure and solid foundation, and they can go on 
with tenfold more success. Then, again, it would 
be much easier for us to go home, and would save a 
good deal of expense. But I, not being at the scene 
of action, cannot know which is the best course, 
only give a few of my ideas on the subject. 

In your last letter you spoke of attending an ex- 
amination at Champlain, and commented on the 
examination in pretty high terms, and then of your 
second son's laying aside his books for the mer- 
chant's life, for the purpose of trying to support 
himself, and not always be a dependant on others. 
My principal reasons for leaving home were because 
I saw just how you were situated, and I could not 
bear the idea, when I knew I could support myself, 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 71 

of stopping at home doing nothing, nor away at 
school, when I knew you could hardly get along at 
home, nor of having a community offer to board me 
for nothing, etc. No, I was too independent for 
that, and don't think I should have accepted any such 
offer. I am perfectly satisfied with my situation, 
and hope by diligence and perseverance to succeed 
in business, and to have enough and to spare, and I 
am willing and ready to bear the consequences of 
my determination. 

To Mrs. Joel Fisk. 

Trenton, Jan. 20, 1850. 

I received yours and Father's letter last Friday 
evening. I had been expecting it very anxiously 
for some two or three days. I had before that settled 
in my mind to go to California without I received a 
decided veto from home. My object in going was to 
better my condition faster than I could here serving 
as a clerk. Chances there are five times as great as 
they are here. To be sure, there are a great many 
risks and privations one would have to endure, which 
he would not here. We were going to take along 
our own tent and cooking-utensils, and also send 
around the Horn some provisions, which would 
arrive there probably in five months. When I 
arrived there, my object would be to go at anything 



72 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

that turned up, — to clerking, if I had a good offer, 
or any other honest wa} T of making a living. If 
nothing very favourable offered at San Francisco, I 
should go to the mines and dig. 

Father will soon be too old to labour much, and 
then it ought to and will devolve on his children to 
support their parents in their declining days, and I 
thought perhaps I might make enough in C. to meet 
all my wants, and have a liberal share to spare 
towards supporting them. But when I received your 
letter, and found you were so much opposed to it, and 
that it hurt your feelings so much, after thinking it 
over seriously, and talking with Uncle, concluded to 
give it up for the present at least, and perhaps before 
another year rolls around you may view it in a 
different light, and may be willing to give a free 
consent. I had my mind so set on going that it 
was hard to give it up, and I think before or at least 
in a year from now I shall go. Something may turn 
up so that you shall not only be willing, but think 
it best for me to go. . . . 

To the Same. 

Saturday Morning, Jan. 26, 1850. 

I don't know but you will think from what I have 
written that it is all boyish enthusiasm which in- 
fluences me ; but no, I have thought of it for some 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 73 

two or three months, have been reading accounts of 
California, have viewed it in every light, have talked 
with a great many. Some encourage, and others 
discourage; but all agree there is a fine chance if a 
person can undergo the hardships and privations of 
a newly settled country. A great many intelligent 
and influential men here have told me, and said to 
others, that if they were not settled in life they 
would most certainly go. Some raise the objection 
that society is so poor, being composed of all classes 
and kinds. Well, now I think that is one argument 
why intelligent, moral persons should go and try to 
throw in their influence for good. I was talking 
with Uncle about it again this morning. He says 
he has no doubt but that property and person are 
nearly as safe there as here, but says he does not 
want to influence me either way until I hear from 
you. But it is plain if he had not a good opinion of 
it he would try to discourage me at once. I place 
all confidence in his opinion, and should not want 
to go without his consent either, and I know he will 
not give that unless he thinks there is great chance 
of success. I presume you have not seen a regular 
authenticated account of the country, perhaps only 
chance remarks in some of the papers ; but read 
Lieutenant Emery's account of the country, Bayard 
Taylor's comment, Mr. Blair and others. Lieu- 
tenant Emery travelled through in time of the 

10 



74 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

Mexican War, and he gives a glowing and thrilling- 
account of it. B. T. also, and Mr. B., men of stand- 
ing, are travelling there now. They have no reason 
to exaggerate, and their accounts can be relied upon. 
They too give a fine account of the country. The 
valley of the Sacramento is as beautiful and fertile a 
spot as there is in the world. They authenticate all 
accounts, and sometimes say they hardly reach the 
truth. The quartz rock that has been discovered 
lately is very wonderful. It has been examined by 
officers appointed by government, and they say it 
yields from one dollar to one dollar and fifty cents to 
the pound. Now the rock in Commodore Stockton's 
mines in Virginia yields only one dollar to about 
twenty pounds of the rock, but they are worked and 
considered profitable. Think seriously, ponder, 
decide quick, and give me an answer by return of 
mail. . . . 

To Rev. Joel Fish. 

Trenton, May 24, 1850. 
... I believe I mentioned in my last to Clarinda 
that I had taken the books, and since then have had 
my hands full. Mr. T. has put them entirely in my 
hands, and I have to do a great deal of collecting, — 
have to keep a look out when bills are due, make 
them out, and collect them. I have made out bills 
within two weeks to the amount of nearly two thou- 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 75 

sand dollars, and have now on my hands several 
accounts to settle that he has before attended to him- 
self. I have nearly all his corresponding with New 
York and Philadelphia merchants to attend to. All 
this, together with banking business, etc., keeps my 
hands full nearly all the time. . . . 

Dr. Junkin left for California a week or two ago 
alone without me, and I don't know but that on the 
whole it was as well, and I have no doubt in the end 
it will prove all for the best. I have so far got 
along as well and even better than I expected in 
Trenton, and there will something turn up yet that 
will set me on a sure footing. I try always to do 
my best in everything I lay my hands to, and don't 
think of failing, look to the top of the ladder, and 
mean to get there some day if possible. I believe it 
is always best to aim high, and you will come some- 
where near the mark. I don't expect ever to become 
very rich, but am going to make enough to support 
myself (and wife if I ever get one) in good style. 
Live comfortably while I do live is my maxim. . . . 
I have given up taking lessons on the flute for the 
present, because I cannot afford it. I practise some 
every day, so as not to forget what I have learned. I 
met a party this evening to practise. We had a 
violin, banjo, triangle, bones, and flute. I played 
the flute, and we turned out some pretty good music. 

I had a very pleasant time a few evenings since. 



76 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

I went to borrow a piece of music of a young lady. 
When I arrived there, found three other ladies and 
two gentlemen. I happened to have my flute with 
me. One of the ladies played the guitar. We 
played together some few pieces ; then the rest joined 
in and sang, and we had a fine time. Uncle and 
Aunt are continually cautioning me against falling 
in love with any of the young ladies ; and perhaps 
they have cause to, for there are a few very fine girls 
here, and if I don't fall in love with them, they will 
with me. . . . 

To Clarinda C. Fish. 

Trenton, Aug. 30, 1850. 
... I don't and can't very well get much time for 
exercise out of doors. I usually take a walk in the 
evening after the store shuts up, if I have no other 
engagement on hand ; but since I came back there 
has been a round of parties, social meetings, etc. 
Within about two weeks I attended five parties, one 
bridal party, and generally have a pleasant time, or 
try to, at least. There are some fine young ladies 
here, and you must not be surprised if you hear one 
of them has been surprised, captured, and taken like 
a sailor in a storm by my humble self, though I have 
no very serious intentions now, — only reconnoitring 
the castle to pick out the best soldiers, and make 
my choice from them. Last Monday evening I 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 77 

attended a small gathering at Mr. McKean's, where 
Charlie W. has made a conquest. Tuesday even- 
ing I was busy in the store. Wednesday evening I 
called up at Mr. Green's, and spent a very pleasant 
evening all alone with Louise. I suppose you know 
who that is. I told her Mother sent many thanks 
for doctoring me. She said she was welcome, and 
would do as much for me if I was afflicted again with 
any ills, but at the same time she would be happy to 
help any one in distress, if it was in her power. 
Now you need not be drawing any conclusions of 
your own from what I have written. . . . 

I often think of my visit home. To look back at 
it, it seems like a dream. I can hardly realise I 
have been home and seen you all; but thus it is: 
time flies on eagles' wings. We look ahead to 
some pleasure; it comes and goes. Then we look 
for something else to divert our attention. It really 
seems as if the years flew by three times as fast as 
they used to. . . . 

To Mrs. Joel Fish. 

Trenton, Sept. 12, 1850. 
That every day brings something new, is an old 
saying, but none the less true for that. Sometimes 
this consists in a change of feelings or fortunes. 
Sometimes perhaps we form hatred which will change 
our whole manner; and sometimes that gentler, 



78 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

heavenly feeling of love to some particular object 
will take possession of us, and, if directed to a right 
object, may affect us for time, and even for eternity. 
It sometimes alters our whole being, makes us 
better, care more for ourselves and also for others. 
If this feeling has possession of our hearts, it is hard 
to do a wrong action. 

But I think I hear you say, why does n't Harvey 
come to the point, and let us know what he is at, 
and then make his comments ? Well, Mother, this 
is it. You perhaps remember hearing me speak of 
a certain young lady by the name of Louisa Green ; 
and the fact of the matter is I have fallen in love 
with her. But it has not been the work of a moment ; 
it has been gradually coming over me for the past 
year. When first I saw her, I was pleased with her 
manners, which were very pleasant and agreeable. 
Then on more intimate acquaintance I liked her 
sentiments and views, which I found agreed with 
mine in a great many matters, and of course her 
company was very agreeable to me, and I often 
visited her, and, Mother, could not help very well 
falling in love with her, as the saying is. Last 
Wednesday evening I told her my thoughts and feel- 
ings in regard to her, and to my joy found in this 
case also our feelings were alike. Then, as I pre- 
sume perhaps you have been in a similar situation, 
you can easier imagine than I can describe our 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 79 

thoughts, words, and feelings ; but she, like a dutiful 
daughter, said she would rather consult her parents 
before she gave a final decision. Mother, I liked 
her all the better for that, because I think parents 
should be consulted in such cases. Next morning 
she told her mother, who had no objections, and said 
she had always thought well of me. So far, so good. 
Then we appointed her as ambassador to Mr. Green. 
He had no objections, only he thought we were too 
young; said we had neither of us been much into 
society, and perhaps we might see some one we 
might like better (not much danger of that !). Mrs. 
Green proposed to us we should wait one year before 
we permanently engaged ourselves to each other, and 
now I write to you to see what you and Father think. 
Louisa thought it would be no more than right that 
I should do so. But I can tell you I am completely 
bound up in her, — love her deeply and truly, I 
trust. 

You know, Mother, I have deep feelings, — per- 
haps not very excitable, but when once worked up, 
they take me along, body and soul. It is hard to 
describe one's feelings by writing, and now I would 
give most anything if I could just step in and have a 
talk with you, — get some of your real good motherly 
advice on the subject, which I know would be good. 
I wish you would write to us together. Louisa ex- 
pressed the same opinion. 



80 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

Louisa is not a professed Christian, but from con- 
versations I have had with her, I know she feels 
the importance of it. She is a teacher in the Sunday- 
school. She is not one of the kind that are ashamed 
to work when needed, and I have no doubt with a little 
experience will make a good housekeeper. . . . 

I am now reading a book entitled the " Journal of 
a Naturalist," both interesting and instructive. I 
have made up my mind to give up the reading of 
novels and trashy works, and try to read something 
that will do me some good. Don't say but what I 
may read a novel occasionally, of the right stamp, 
by way of variety, but shall give it up as a habit. 
You have no idea how many novels I have read dur- 
ing the past year — sat up night after night. Now 
I will just tell you there is a certain young lady had 
something to do in this matter. She is deadly 
opposed to novel reading, and she 's right. 

Now, Mother, be sure and answer by return mail, 
as we shall be very anxious to hear from you. I 
have a safeguard thrown around me now, which will 
go a great ways towards keeping me straight. . . . 

To Clarinda C. Fisk. 

Teknton, Dec. 16, 1850. 
... I suppose you are having winter in earnest 
now, good sleighing. Oh, how I would like to take 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 81 

Charlie and a good light sleigh and half a dozen of 
my sisters, and take a ride over your hills ! . . . 

Here it is pretty near Christmas and New Year 
again. This year has rolled by very soon, or at least 
so it seems to me. Last Thursday was Thanks- 
giving. I took dinner at Uncle's. The stores were 
all closed during service in the morning. In the 
evening I went with L. to hear a sermon by Mr. 
Cuyler. I have joined a Lyceum here this winter, 
known by the name of "The Young Men's Literary 
Institute. " It is a profitable and agreeable manner 
of spending one evening in the week. I was Secre- 
tary one month, and now I am President, hem ! hem ! 
I am going to study what time I can get this winter. 
Shall commence my algebra, and go through it 
again. I wish I had more time to read, write, etc. 
Uncle wants me, as soon as it can be brought about, 
to leave this business, and get into a bank or insur- 
ance office. If I should do that, I would have more 
time for recreation and study, but I don't like to get 
into the habit of changing, and shall not do so unless 
it is greatly to my advantage. The old saying that 
" a rolling stone gathers no moss " is very true. If 
a person wants to succeed, he ought to decide on his 
business and stick at it through thick and thin, and 
not let such a thing as fail be thought of. But still, 
as I have no capital, it would perhaps be better for 
me to get into some situation of the kind where I 

11 



82 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

can get a salary. I am anxious to get at something 
that I can make more than my living. Father and 
Mother are growing old, and in time will be unable 
to do anything. We children should feel it our 
duty, and also a pleasure, to support them. All we 
can do will not repay them for their anxious care 
and watchfulness over us during childhood. I often 
think I should like to live my childhood over again, 
but it 's passed ; it 's best to leave time past to itself, 
and look to the future. . . . 

Pliny was up last Saturday, said he should write 
home immediately, and perhaps you have received a 
letter ere this. He is very busy indeed, and I sup- 
pose hardly gets time to write. I see by the adver- 
tisement of that company Pliny has been promoted 
to the office of actuary, — about the highest office. 
I presume his salary has been increased also ; if not 
now, it will be at the end of the year. I have not 
heard from him since this took place, and therefore 
cannot give particulars. If Pliny keeps his health 
and does as well in the future as he has done, he is 
cut out for a rich man. I am glad to see him doing 
so well. He will be getting married in a year or 
two, I presume. One thing is certain, if I was as 
old as he is, and doing as well, it would not be a 
great while before I was married. . . . 

What did you mean by the word you sent by 
Mother some time ago, that you would tell me some- 



LETTERS OE HARVEY FISK. 83 

thing if you dared to? Have you been falling in love 
with some " Green Mountain Boy " ? Don't be afraid 
to let me know ; I can sympathise with you. . . . 

Mr. Titus made me a present this morning of a 
gold pen and extension case worth about three 
dollars, — just what I have been wanting. He has 
been very good to me lately, and I know if I should 
want to leave before I am twenty-one he would make 
great resistance. I shall not leave unless I see 
something greatly to my advantage. 

How are all the folks at home ? Do the children 
go to school, and how are they getting on ? Tell the 
boys to study hard, and learn while they have the 
opportunity. Whatever business or profession they 
follow, they will have need of all they can learn. 
Teach them to be good writers, as that is very essen- 
tial. I wish the children would write to me occa- 
sionally. I always like to hear from them. . . . 

To Rev. Joel Fisk. 

Trenton, Jan. 11, 1851. 
. . . The celebrated temperance lecturer, John B. 
Gough, was in town, and delivered two lectures on 
that subject. I never heard such speaking before in 
my life. He would take his audience right along 
with him. One moment they would be in tears, and 
the next laughing. His description of the drunkard, 



84 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

his misery and woe, went straight to the heart. I 
would give most anything to have you hear him, as 
it is a subject in which you are deeply interested. 
They need something to stir them up here in 
Trenton. There is a great deal of drinking done 
among the higher classes of society, and some of the 
ministers of the gospel keep their wine bottle, and 
stand aloof from the cause. Mr. G. is a thorough- 
going temperance man. . . . 

To Mrs. Joel Fish. 

Trenton, N. J., April 17, 1851. 

. . . How quickly time flies ! Another year since 
I have been here has nearly rolled around. In May 
I shall have been here three years, and on the 26th 
of this month I shall be twenty years old, — almost a 
man in years, but still have a great many things yet to 
learn. Indeed one can go on improving and learning 
through life, and then not get half up the ladder. 
It 's best, though, to try and get as near there as 
possible. 

I have been to attend Mr. Cuyler's evening lecture 
this evening, and heard a very good discourse. I 
like some of his evening discourses a great deal 
better than his sermons Sunday. There seems to be 
more real animation and solemnity ; but perhaps it 's 
all imagination. I found Louise there (as she gen- 



LETTERS OF HARVEY EISK. 85 

erally is), and had the pleasure of waiting on her 
home, and spending the rest of the evening; and of 
course it was spent very pleasantly, as time generally 
is with those you love. It 's very pleasant when far 
from home to have some one to sympathise with you, 
— one with whom you feel free to say what you 
think. We often talk about our mother far away. 
She has been telling me for several days I ought to 
write home, and let you know I was still plodding 
on here. Mother, she has a kind, good heart; and 
although I am not a real Christian (as perhaps I 
ought to be), I often wish she was, as I know that is 
an essential quality for a good wife. We often talk 
about religious matters, and I know she wishes to be 
a Christian, and I have no doubt we shall both be 
such some day. . . . 

To the Same. 

Trenton, Aug. 24, 1851. 
Your long-wished-for letter came duly to hand, 
and was read and reread with a great deal of pleasure, 
as a letter always is from my mother. I did not 
want you to think, in my note, that I was complain- 
ing because you had not written sooner. I know 
your time is very much employed in household and 
other duties, as indeed it always is when you are 
well. But still I like to get a letter from you direct 
occasionally, because it always contains so much 



86 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

good advice and instruction. It makes my mind 
revert to the time when I was home, and had a 
mother's tender, watchful care to look after and 
instruct and guide me. Whatever I am, and what- 
ever 1 may eventually become, will arise from the 
wise guidance of my dear parents, and need I thank 
them for it ? Yes, a thousand times ; and I hope I 
may so live as to gain their approbation, that they 
will be pleased with my conduct and actions, and 
that they will have their reward both in this world 
and the one to come. . . . 

I hope to get a situation in a bank in New York 
between now and spring I have had a talk with 
Uncle in reference to it, and he thinks it will be the 
best thing I can do, and what 's more, will exert his 
influence in my favour. He says if he can get me a 
good situation, he will have no scruples at all about 
my leaving Mr. Titus ; and I should not either. I 
have been with him now going on four years, and I 
presume if I could get a place he would make no 
serious objections to my leaving. It 's a good sign 
when employers do not like to part with their 
employees ; but as yet there is nothing definite, and 
I may stay on till next May. What do you think of 
my going to that great city where there are so many 
temptations for young men to go astray ? But, 
Mother, I have one very dear friend here, who will 
have great influence in promoting my success. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 87 

Aug. 25, 1851. 

I ended up very abruptly yesterday, but will now 
try and finish if I am not disturbed, and post it off 
first mail. About that matter between Louise and 
me, it is all settled, and now we are engaged. Her 
parents made no objections, and I had your opinion. 
It may be some time before we can be married ; that 
will depend on circumstances. I don't intend to 
until I am perfectly able, and have good prospects 
ahead, — which I hope will be before many years. I 
wish you could become acquainted with her ; and if 
you come on next spring, you must certainly do so. 
You will love her, I know. Perhaps I am blinded, 
but at least I think so. . . . 

I hope the people will keep up father's salary, for 
$500 is little enough for such a family as he has. 
It will be some time before R. Henry or Daniel will 
be able to support themselves, though I hope they do 
all they can at home. They are the Pliny and 
Harvey of Essex. Speaking of Pliny, the fact of the 
matter is I have not seen or heard from him in 
some time. He was at Allentown a week, and felt 
much better for it. He is exerting himself very 
much, and my only fear is he will overdo. He is 
determined to succeed, and I hope he will. . . . 



88 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To Clarinda C. Fish. 

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 1851. 
. . . Clarinda, I want to be rich, I want to be inde- 
pendent of others. There are some who have looked 
down on me, and I want to tower above them. 1 
have wild, boyish dreams sometimes, I know, but 
I can't help it. I am determined to succeed, and I 
will if my life and health are spared. You must not 
think that these are all my reasons. No ; there are 
many others. Our parents are getting old, and soon 
(if they are spared as a blessing to us) they will be 
unable to support themselves ; and if we are what we 
ought to be, we shall esteem it as a great blessing to 
smooth their road to the grave, that they may live 
comfortably and happy, and when they are called 
away they will thank God and bless us with their 
last breath. . . . 

To Rev. Joel Fish 

Trenton, Feb. 14, 1852. 
. . . I had a long talk with Mr. Titus a few days 
since in regard to my affairs with him. He seems to 
talk as if he was very well satisfied with my conduct 
and course I had pursued since being with him, and 
paid me a pretty high compliment in regard to my 
business capacity, etc., — said he had perfect confi- 



LETTERS OE HARVEY FISK. 89 

dence in me. So far, so good. But in regard to my 
account, he will leave me somewhat in debt to him. 
He said if he paid me all I had been worth to him 
it would be a good deal more than my account; but 
he says (which is all very true) that I came to him 
entirely ignorant in regard to this business, — a stran- 
ger, — and he says it is all good luck on his part. If 
I had been good for nothing, he should have felt 
bound to have paid me what he agreed to. Where 
there is one extra one, he has half a dozen poor ones. 
My account is about $375. According to agreement, 
$25 first year, and $15 increase each year, it would 
amount to $190. He says he will allow me $60 
more, making in all $250 ; this leaves me $125 
out of pocket. Pretty state of affairs, you may 
think, for a young man without a cent; but don't be 
too fast. I have a good knowledge of business, am 
better acquainted with human nature, men, things at 
large, etc. , and now can soon make that up if I keep 
my health. You may perhaps think I have been 
extravagant ; but just look at it, less than $100 per 
annum for clothing, — boots, hats, caps, papers, 
and many other little things too numerous to men- 
tion. It has cost me at least $20 per annum for 
"shoe leather;" but talking about it won't make it 
any less. 

The only thing that troubles me is that in the first 
place I shall not be able to help much towards the 

12 



90 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

children's schooling, though I mean to, and shall do 
something. In the next place, I don't think, under 
the circumstances, I could come home next summer, 
which is a great disappointment to me. I wanted 
to come very much, — to talk over affairs, and get 
some good parental advice on my start in the world. 
I shall be twenty-one years old in April. I suppose 
I could borrow money enough of Pliny and Uncle, 
but I have made up my mind to " hoe my own row " 
and " pay my own way. " 

But to go back to Mr. Titus. He wants me very 
much to stay on with him, and made me a good 
offer. He says he will give me $200, my board and 
washing, which is as good as $375 here, or $450 in 
Philadelphia or New York. He also gives me the 
privilege of leaving any time if I get a good offer in 
an insurance company or bank. . . . 

The offer I spoke of in C. 's letter was from Messrs. 
Jos. G. Brearley & Co., hardware merchants in this 
place. They wanted me to keep their books, but 
would not offer me over $300 positively ; but probably 
would have given $350 if I would have promised 
them to come, as they wanted me very much. But 
Uncle and I thought perhaps it would not be best to 
change. The situation was totally unsolicited by 
me. They each of them went to Uncle, and wished 
him to speak to me. . . . 

I was much pleased with your Temperance Ode ; 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 91 

liked the sentiment very much. Uncle and Aunt 
are as well as usual. Pliny was up last Saturday. 
He seems very well, and is in good spirits. He 
will make a noise yet in the world if he holds his 
own. Pliny and I both may regard our success so 
far due to the good correct principles instilled in 
us at home by our parents. May all their children 
grow up to be a blessing and support to them in their 
old age! I am glad to hear Sarah is getting on so 
well. Tell Daniel and R. Henry to make their 
motto to succeed in everything they attempt, whether 
studies, work, or whatever it may be, so that it is 
right. 

Louise is well, and sends much love to all. L. 
and I are now attending a course of lectures on the 
religious and political aspect of Europe, its history, 
etc., by the Rev. Dr. Baird, who has been travelling 
some years through Europe. The course consists of 
nine lectures. The first one was Wednesday even- 
ing, and the next will be this. I never listened to a 
more interesting, instructive lecture. The price of 
tickets is $1.00 each. Uncle made me a present of 
one, and I bought another and took L. I consider 
the money well spent, and would not miss the 
lectures, now I have heard the first, for a good deal 
more than that. I wish Clarinda was here to attend 
them with us. . . . 



92 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To Mrs. Joel Fish 

Trenton, N. J., Feb. 25, 1852. 
... I wish that you could become acquainted with 
L. I think I am a pretty good judge of character, and 
without any prejudice (if it can be so), I am confident 
she possesses qualities that would cause you to love 
her. The way she has been situated for a few years 
past has tended to make her what she is. Her 
mother died when she was about thirteen years old, 
and she, being the oldest, was left in charge of the 
younger children, and the responsibility and care 
have sobered her down into quite a matronly woman. 
It has taught her that she must act for herself, thrown 
her back on her own powers, and has made her (what 
in my humble opinion she is) well calculated to 
make a first-rate wife, and make her husband a 
happy home. . . . 

To Clarinda 0. Fish 

Trenton, March 8, 1852. 
... I like business, like to see things moving, 
going ahead with a rush, and to know that I am also 
to take my stand with the rest, and battle against 
the world, or with the world, for reputation, honour, 
"riches," success, etc. ; but how much depends on a 
good correct start in the first place ! It requires a 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 93 

great deal of care, and anxious care, to make and 
preserve a good name, and also to succeed in busi- 
ness. Clarinda, I sometimes have strange thoughts. 
Did you ever get into a real reverie, and picture to 
yourself your future life, — your hopes, fears, pros- 
pects, etc.? I look back and see myself a poor, 
unknown boy, — not known, cared, or thought of 
only by my own near friends. Then I picture myself 
rising in the community. I become rich, influential, 
see myself the means of doing a great deal of good. 
Then I am the holder of some responsible office. I 
rise again a step higher, then another step, till at 
last I see myself where I dare hardly — But stop, I 
am getting on too fast. You may think me foolish, 
and perhaps I am, though you will admit there is 
nothing wrong in aiming high. I aimed high when 
I came into this store, — a raw, green, verdant 
Yankee (I glory that I am a Yankee), knowing 
hardly a spool of cotton from a yardstick, and in 
less than two years I had about the highest stand, — 
at least the most responsible post, — had charge of 
all the money, often as much as 82000, and perfect 
confidence placed in me. Thanks be to "Him " that 
was the means of giving me such good parents to 
instil good sound principles in my heart when under 
their direct control ! 

To tell you the plain, solemn fact, I like the mer- 
cantile business. I like to sell goods; and if I had 



94 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

money to start with, or even the prospect of getting 
into business for myself, I would not think of be- 
coming a swallow-tailed quill-driver, — all my life 
behind the desk of a bank or insurance office, or any 
other office. There is something that I like in this 
business. One sees so much of human nature, such 
a continual change; not a dull, monotonous course 
all the time. Sometimes I think I will stick at it; 
and you know, if a person really deserves success, he 
is sure of success. . . . 

To Rev. Joel Fisk. 

New York, May 10, 1852. 
Doubtless you know ere this of my sudden change 
from Trenton to this modern Babel. Uncle said he 
had written to you or I should have written before. 
I received the appointment last Saturday week of 
assistant receiving teller in the Mechanics' Bank, 
— one of the oldest institutions in the city. My 
salary was stated at $400 ; but I told Mr. Conover, 
the teller, that I thought it very small. He said it 
was, but that that was all they had paid to that 
officer, but said he would speak to the cashier on his 
return to New York. This was Saturday. On the 
next Wednesday I came on, and immediately reported 
myself at the bank. I was introduced by Mr. C. to 
the president and cashier, and was well received 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 95 

by both. The cashier (Mr. Edmunds) said if I did 
as well as they expected from what they had heard 
of my abilities, and suited Mr. C. for one month on 
trial, it should be 8500. So I went to work, and 
that same evening Mr. C. told me I need not fear, it 
was certain $500; and this evening he tells me I 
have done first-rate. The chances of promotion from 
my post are good. If I keep my health, I have no 
doubt but my salary will be $1000 at least in less 
than two years, either in an advanced post in this 
bank or as first teller in some other. . . . 

I have nothing at all to do with the books, so I 
shall not be pinned down writing. Book-keepers 
can be dug up all over, but good tellers are in good 
demand, and take a much higher stand. I have to 
handle a great deal of money. We received at our 
desk to-day nearly 1700,000, and last Saturday week 
the deposits amounted to $1, 000, 000, so you see our 
post is a very responsible one. Bank hours are 
from 10 a. m. to 3 p. m. ; but we generally are there 
at nine, and get away about four or half past, so you 
see I have a great deal of leisure time for reading, 
exercise, etc. . . . 

To Mrs. Jonathan Fisk. 

New York, May 21, 1852. 
. . . This has been a beautiful day, clear and pleas- 
ant. We had a rain yesterday morning, which settled 



96 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

the dust, and gives us a chance to breathe the fine city 
air. I presume the country looks beautiful, — fields 
green, vegetables starting up, and the air is sweet 
with their fragrance. How I would like to take a 
short trip into the country ! and as my best friends 
in this region are in Trenton, why, that should be 
the place. You must not think I am getting home- 
sick, but it is a little dull (that is, for me), and I am 
lonesome evenings ; but I generally am engaged in 
some manner which makes the time go by fast. I 
am reading now " Adirondack, or Life in the Woods," 
by J. T. Headley. It is a beautiful thing. His 
manner of writing is pleasing and instructive ; per- 
haps you have read it. It is an account of his travels 
through the mountains of New York State. He 
takes you right along with him. One moment you 
are toiling and panting up the sides of a mountain. 
You reach the top, and the beautiful and grand 
scenery far and near bursts on your view. His 
description of his feelings and thoughts is splendid; 
but to know what it is one must read it. I have 
another work on hand. It is entitled " Views Afoot," 
or Bayard S. Taylor's travels through England and 
Europe. Dr. McMurray recommends it very highly. 
I intend to join the Mercantile Library as soon as 
I have five dollars to spare. I am going to follow 
your and Uncle's advice, and spend a part at least of 
my leisure time in profitable reading. I have made 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 97 

up my mind to stop novel reading, unless it is some 
good standard work by some of our best authors. I 
want to read "Queechy " and "Uncle Tom's Cabin," 
both being very highly recommended. . . . 

I learn from Louisa's letters that you have lent 
her some books to read, and also that you are very 
kind to her, — gave her medicine for her cough, — 
and allow me to thank you for it. I hope you will 
make good friends, for I shall feel a great deal 
better knowing that you take an interest in her. 
Some of these fine days, if things go right, we shall 
have you here in New York making us a visit. . . . 

I have not decided yet what church to attend 
regularly. Last Sunday I attended Dr. Hatfield's 
both morning and evening, and liked him very much. 
He is a very pleasant speaker, always preaches ex- 
temporaneously. His church is but a few squares 
from here, just a nice walk. Dr. and Mrs. McMurray 
attend there, and I can have a seat in their pew. 
Dr. Alexander's church is too far up town. Louisa 
wrote me that she recommended Dr. Krebs' church, 
that he was a good preacher, etc. I think I shall 
go and hear him next Sunday. I intend to settle on 
some church, and attend there regularly. 

I am very pleasantly situated here at my boarding- 
house. Dr. and Mrs. McMurray are both very 
pleasant, and make one feel at home. They are both 
well educated, and I can derive a great deal of useful 

13 



98 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

information in conversation with them. This is a 
pleasant street, wide and airy, trees each side of it, 
— No. 169 East Broadway. To be sure, it is a good 
long walk from the bank, but the exercise will do 
me good. So far I have walked, rain or shine. I 
like to walk through the crowded streets, and see 
the different persons, examine their faces, and notice 
the many different dispositions. Some go fretting 
along, look sour at every one they meet. They have 
got cross wives or husbands. Others look joyful and 
happy, as if they were not ruffled by every passing 
breeze, — there 's the pleasant hoyne, and good, kind, 
loving wife ; you can see it in a minute. There 's a 
man of business, one of your dollar and cent men, 
brows knit, an anxious, grasping look about him, 
and so on. It 's really interesting to read the differ- 
ent faces, — a good study for mankind is man. . . . 
I like my business better and better every day, 
and am going to make myself competent in a short 
time for any vacancy that may occur. I find I can 
count money much more readily and more correctly 
than at first. . . . 

To Qlarinda C. Fisk. 

New York, May 25, 1852. 
. . . Well, so Pliny is married. Doesn't it seem 
strange when you look back at our young days at 
Essex, when we were little children, as it were ? 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 99 

But time moves on. The child becomes a man, is 
married, passes over the stage of action, and is gone. 
Life is but a dream, and still not all a dream. There 
are a great many stern realities, a great many waves 
to buffet. But if we live so that we shall not dread 
to die, so that we are confident of gaining the reward 
of well doing, we are safe, we need not fear. I 
have thought a good deal of this subject lately. Just 
now, as it were, all is clear. There 's no stormy 
cloud overhead. I am loved, and love one, and we 
feel happy in our love. I have dear friends at home, 
and Pliny all well and comfortably situated. I am 
very much prospered in my business affairs, have 
good prospects ahead ; and when I think of it all, I 
feel I should be thankful to the " Giver of all Good " 
for His many favours. . . . 

Jenny Lind Goldschmidt is here now, creating 
quite an excitement. Uncle wrote me yesterday 
advising me to go and hear her. If I can get a 
ticket for one dollar, I will go. I can't afford more 
than that. . . . 

To Mrs. Joel Fish. 

New York. June 9, 1852. 

... I have some good news to tell you in regard 

to L. A great many times, when I was in Trenton, 

when we were together, our conversation would turn 

on religious subjects, and the last evening I spent with 



100 LETTERS OF HARVP]Y FISK. 

her before leaving we talked a great deal on the sub- 
ject. The first letter I received from her she wrote 
on the subject, and seemed to be deeply impressed, 
and each successive letter she wrote more and more, 
and said she wished her own dear mother was alive 
for her to go to for advice. She said that she had 
had a talk with Rev. Mr. Cuyler (3d Pres. Church, 
of which Mr. Green is an elder), and felt rather 
better about it. The next letter I received last 
Thursday evening; and need I tell you, Mother, it 
gave me great joy ? It was such a letter as I never 
had received before from her. She said she had 
found peace in believing in Jesus Christ; that she 
was to go before the session that evening, and join 
the church the coming Sabbath. Mother, it gave 
me real heartfelt joy. Now, I thought, I should have 
in due time a Christian wife, and I remembered 
what you had often told and written to me, — that if 
I wanted a good, patient, kind, loving wife, I should 
get one that was a Christian. I was there Sunday, 
saw her join Mr. Cuyler's church, went with her to 
church in the afternoon, and we spent the evening to- 
gether and alone, and it was a happy evening. Her 
mind was very clear on the subject, and she appealed 
to me to become truly a Christian in a manner that 
only one that takes an interest in another would 
appeal. I had previously told her just how I was 
situated in regard to this matter. This is not a sud- 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 101 

den enthusiasm with her. No, she has been think- 
ing on the subject seriously for a long time, and 
has prayed much over it. She has stepped out alone, 
as it were, from among her associates, and will need 
to guard very much against them. Pray for her, 
Mother, that she may be kept in the right path. I 
wish you would write her a letter now. It would do 
her much good to get some of your good advice in 
setting out. . . . 

I suppose you know my salary is 1500. I owe 
Uncle 1135, and Pliny #12, which I paid to him 
Saturday. The balance of my bill with Mr. Titus 
was #137.50. After I came away, he told Uncle that 
if I could pay cash down he would take #100 as full 
pay. Uncle generously lent me that amount, and I 
settled the bill. Then I had to borrow money to 
start here with, and a little back account with Uncle 
made it #135. My board, washing, and dinners will 
cost me about #4.50 per week; so you see I shall 
have to live economically to get along. I hope after 
this year I shall be able to help more towards school 
ing the children, etc. . . . 

To Rev. Joel Fisk. 

New York, June 28, 1852. 
... I can't possibly be away more than ten days, and 
Mr. Conover would like me to be back the next Satur- 



102 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

day. I told him it would not pay to go for so short a 
time, as that would hardly give me room to turn 
around at home, and not having been home in two 
years, I would like to see a little more of them than to 
shake hands and be off again. I did think for a 
while that I had better give it up altogether for this 
summer. One reason, I felt a little delicate about 
going away so soon after coming here. Then, again, I 
owe Uncle a pretty good sum, and wanted to square 
that off as fast as possible ; but when I thought of 
it, that I had not been home for two years, and hear- 
ing Pliny's account about home matters and things, I 
could not make up my mind to wait another year. 
As little boys say when they 're homesick, " I want to 
see Mother." . . . 

I am getting along very well, and like the banking 
business very much, — more and more every day. My 
prospects are first-rate for the future. You may yet 
wake up some morning and hear I am cashier or 
president of one of the big Wall Street banks, with a 
salary of $5,000 or $6,000 per annum. Our president 
and cashier each get $5,000 salary, — a small fortune 
for a poor man. " Aim High," — that 's the word. 

If you only knew how much good a letter from home 
did me, and how much better I feel to go to work, I 
believe among you all I should get a letter a little 
oftener than I now do. . . . 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 103 

To Mrs. Joel Fisk. 

New York, Aug. 19, 1852. 

. . . Well, I have been home again, and seen all my 
dear friends there in health. I need not tell you it was 
a happy. visit, almost too happy, — my dear parents well, 
my younger brothers and sisters grown and improved 
so much both in mind and in their manners and dis- 
position towards each other. I don't remember hear- 
ing a cross word while there, and may they always 
try to make home happy and what it ought to be ! 
Soon they too may be separated, and until then they 
will hardly know how to appreciate that home. We 
don't appreciate our greatest blessings until they are 
gone from us. . . . Tell Father I found that joint letter, 
and like it very much. I shall go over to Trenton in 
three or four weeks from Saturday. I want to see 
Louise very much, and give her that kiss and an ac- 
count of my visit, better than I can write. . . . 

From what I saw of Dr. Adgate, I like him very 
much. He seems to be a sound, go-ahead man. 
There is a determined look about him I like. He 
will succeed with honour, I have no doubt, if he keeps 
his health. I hope Clarinda may enjoy good health, 
and if they are married, they may live long, and be 
happy in each other's society. 

I hope you will succeed in getting a good school this 
winter. I wish Sarah could go back to Lyndon for a 



104 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

few more months at least. If you conclude to have 
her go, I will pay her tuition for two terms. I can save 
that much some wav. . . . 



To Jonathan Fish. 

New York, Oct. 21, 1852. 

. . . We have been very busy this month, — last week 
we did not get away from here any evening till nearly 
six, and once or twice it was later, — and after work- 
ing hard all day, I did not feel like going to a cold 
room and writing a letter. I find it inconvenient about 
writing letters at the Doctor's on that account. I don't 
like to bring my writing materials into the parlour, as 
there are constant callers ; and without we get through 
here in time, so that I can write before tea, I have 
either to pay an extra shilling for my tea at an eating- 
house or write in the cold. We were through to-day 
about half- past four. . . . 

There is no other news of special import I can give 
you. Wall Street has been a little excited in regard 
to the Cuba question, but it is dying away. The 
Grocers' Bank has commenced operations on the 
Metropolitan principle, and the Market Bank is to do 
the same, which will tend more and more to increase 
the circulation here of our own money, and keep the 
country banks at home. . . . 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 105 

To Rev. Joel Fisk. 

New York, Oct. 28, 1852. 

... So far I like Dr. Krebs' church very much. He 
is a sound, good preacher. I attend regularly the 
Tuesday and Friday evening meetings, and am begin- 
ning to know some of the folks that attend there. I 
have not joined the Sunday-school, for I shall likely be 
absent from the city about one Sabbath in each month, 
and a teacher to be effectual and do good should be 
regular ; then again they have school twice, and each 
session about an hour and a half, and Sunday is about 
the only time I can have for religious reading and 
study ; so if I was connected with the school, and at- 
tending church two or three times, it would not leave 
much spare time. . . . 

There is no news of special importance I can write. 
Some parts of our city look very gloomy, being shrouded 
in black, in mourning for Daniel Webster. On the 16th 
of next month there is to be a great " sham " funeral 
here. To-morrow, the day of his funeral at Marsh- 
field, the church and fire bells are to be tolled from 
twelve till two, and minute guns to be fired from the 
battery. All business is requested to be suspended 
after one o'clock. His death is truly a great loss to 
our country, and he will not soon be replaced again. 
We need sound judgment and cool, wise policy now, 
more than ever, to keep us out of trouble. . . . 

14 



106 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

How much I would like to step in and see you all 
this evening ! I can even now see Mother with her 
ever good look, sitting by the stand which is drawn 
near the fire, and the rest all around, studying, or at 
something useful, unless it is Richard Henry, and he 
likely is sprawled out full length snoring behind the 
stove. ... 

To Mrs. Joel Fisk. 

New York, Feb. 4, 1853. 

You can imagine my happy surprise at receiving 
such a good long letter from you. I was not only 
glad to get so much of the home news, but also that my 
Mother was so well, and able to write such letters. . . . 
The next day after I received your letter, Uncle and 
Aunt were here, and I spent the evening with them 
at the hotel, and had a good long talk over matters 
and tilings. ... It would be hard to find just such 
another man as Uncle Jonathan. His advice is 
always good. I have his good opinion and friendship 
now, and I hope I may always merit and retain it. . . . 

I sometimes wonder what my lot was cast here for 
in this great city. I came here, alone, unknown, and 
without any acquaintances, and was led to think and 
look ahead, and saw that in all probabilities my lot was 
cast here for life, and that if I would ever have influence, 
be respected, and be prospered,! must commence aright. 
I thought of old times when I was at home, of my 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 107 

younger brothers and sisters, of my parents, of the 
one that has given me her heart and trust, and what 
good or evil I could be to all ; and lastly, though not 
least, I thought of my accountability to God, and I 
made up my mind to a certain course, and hope with 
His help and guidance to follow it out. But I find it 
hard sometimes, there are so many temptations here, 
and so many little sins to draw one aside ; but I try 
to do right, and hope I shall succeed. . . . 

You ask how I spend my evenings. Generally here 
at home, reading or talking. Tuesday evening is a 
lecture ; and then I have attended some lectures on 
different subjects during the winter. For the last two 
months we have been so busy at the bank I have been 
obliged to remain there some evenings, but the hurry 
is over now, and I have more time. . . . 

I would like very much to come home again next 
summer, but am afraid I cannot get off long enough. 
By the year after, if I live and am prospered, I hope 
to come home, and bring along with me another 
daughter for you. 

Between us, I have been thinking some of being 
married next winter. I know I should be a great deal 
happier, and much more pleasantly situated. Louise 
then will be in her twentieth year. What would my 
Mother advise on this subject ? I do not wish to be 
married till I can have some little ahead for rainy 
days. . . . 



108 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To Jonathan Fish. 

Jersey City, May 2, 1853. 

My dear Uncle, — I felt quite disappointed Satur- 
day evening when I arrived at Trenton to find you 
had left for New York, for I wanted very much to 
have had a talk with you over certain matters, or 
rather a certain matter, and that was my marriage, 
not immediately, but some time next fall. I have 
been thinking it over a good deal lately, and have 
serious intentions of such a step ; but first I wished to 
get your opinion and good advice on the subject. 

You know just how Louise is situated now, and is 
likely to be for some time, if she remains at home. 
To be sure, she is gaining and has already gained a 
great deal of useful knowledge necessary to become 
a good wife, but she has no chance for anything else. 
She has no chance ior mental culture, nor to gain any 
experience as regards society. Her time is wholly 
occupied or much so with household duties. Still 
she is happy, and does all cheerfully, feeling it a 
pleasure that she can do so much good at home. 
Then, again, I know it would be much better for me 
in many respects. I do want a home here ; as it is, I 
feel unsettled, and I think it would be much better 
for us both. I know my salary is rather small to sup- 
port a wife, but by using economy we could get along 
very well, and it would be a good lesson for us. As 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 109 

to age, why, we are old enough, — and young enough 
too, you might say. Both of us are really older than 
others at the same age. The ups and downs, pulling for 
one's self, seeing a necessity for exertion, strengthens 
the faculties and brings them out ; it makes one 
think for himself. But I am running off. I wish 
you would write me soon and give me your advice 
on this subject, whether you think it best or not. 
I had a long talk with Louise when T was over, and 
told her I was going to write you about it. . . . 

I like the banking business very much, — the more 
I see and learn of it, the better it suits me. I want 
very much to get hold of some good works on bank- 
ing, and study them. I not only want to become a 
good practical banker, but also to understand the 
whys and wherefores, and be able to make up my 
own mind on any point, and be capable of deciding 
in all points between good and bad banking. I 
aim to be A No. 1 in my business, as I now fully 
intend it shall be such for life, if I keep my health ; 
but of course it always requires exertion and appli- 
cation to reach the top round of the ladder. The 
more I learn, the more I see to learn. . . . 

To Rev. Joel Fisk. 

Jersey City, May 5, 1853. 
. . . You see by the date I am in Jersey City. I 
changed my boarding-place to here last week. I 



110 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

found I should have to move from Dr. McMurray's, 
and concluded to come over here for the summer 
at least, New York is so close and hot. Now I get 
the fine sea-breeze twice a day crossing the river, and 
then when 1 get here it is still and quiet. I can read 
or write, and enjoy it, — it is already doing me good. 
My appetite is increasing at a great rate, and I find 
it more convenient for my business. ... 1 am all 
clear of debt now, — paid off Uncle the balance due 
him last month, — and now hope to be able to lay by 
a little, and help more at home. I wrote some time 
since about the boys' schooling, and hope they are both 
at school. Let me know what their bill will be when 
you write. I enclose $5 as a little present. . . . 

To Jonathan Fisk. 

Jersey City, May 19, 1853. 

. . . We are getting along first-rate at the bank. 
Everything goes along smoothly and in order, — no 
differences, — and I get away every day now by four 
or half-past. It is just the nicest business in the 
world. What other business is there where there is 
so much done, and with so much apparent ease ? The 
system of banking, as now pursued, is doing more to 
enrich this country, give it comfort and prosperity at 
home, good credit and respectability abroad, than any 
other one thing. . . . 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. HI 

To Mrs. Joel Fisk. 

Jersey City, Aug. 9, 1853. 

. . . Last Thursday I received a very flattering offer 
from the Bank of the Commonwealth, of the post of 
third teller, salary $1,000, with prospect of an in- 
crease at the end of the year. To-morrow I leave 
where I now am, and next Tuesday morning com- 
mence at my new post. This is more than I ex- 
pected. I have been prospered more than I deserve ; 
and for all this I am indebted to the good, pious in- 
structions I received at home, and I hope I shall never 
forget them, but go on and do my duty and live a true 
Christian. I do not say I have no desire for wealth, 
for I have. I would stand high, go on step by step 
until I reach a stopping point, if it ever conies in life. 
But I hope and trust wealth will not sear my heart, 
will not make me feel this life is all, will not shut my 
eyes to the misery and degradation all around, will not 
make me forget my accountability to God ; but having 
the means, I may do good, live as I ought, and render 
my name a blessing to many. But I tremble some- 
times. I know many have started with the same good 
intentions ; but the world has absorbed all, the clink 
of gold is a music to their ears that seems to deaden 
all else ; their heart soon becomes as incapable of 
impression as the gold itself. . . . 

You know I wrote you some time ago something 



112 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

about getting married in the winter ; but after that, 
not feeling quite rich enough, and wishing to have 
a little ahead first, we almost gave it up ; but this 
raise for me has decided it. . . . We have set for our 
marriage some time about the second week in Decem- 
ber. For the present we shall board here in Jersey 
City, as it is cheaper and healthier than in New York, 
— commence economically, and begin right. . . . 

To Rev. Joel Fisk. 

Jersey City, Oct. 27, 1853. 
... I received the offer of the third tellership of 
the Bank of the Commonwealth directly from Mr. Ellis, 
the cashier, entirely unsolicited and unexpected on 
my part, and immediately reported to Mr. Edmunds, 
cashier of the Mechanics'. He said he should be very 
sorry to have me leave, but could not very well in- 
crease my salary in the post I then had, but if I would 
remain he w r ould give me another situation in the 
bank as book-keeper, with $ 1,000 salary. At the same 
time, he thought this would be better for me, being a 
more prominent post, and in the money department 
of the bank, and he as a friend would advise me to 
accept. So, after thinking it over a little, I did 
so. My present situation is very pleasant, and pros- 
pects are good for a higher stand before long. The 
Commonwealth is a new bank, composed of first- 
class business men, and doing a genuine banking 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 113 

business. We are now ahead of any of the new 
banks and many of the old, and before long will 
rank with any bank in the city. My work has been 
pretty hard, but I have learnt and am learning every 
day more than I could in the Mechanics', — qualifying 
myself to take a high post some of these days. The 
work does n't seem to hurt me. I am very well, get- 
ting fat every day. I have been prospered thus far 
much more than I expected, but everything is 
ordered for the best, and I hope I may not forget in 
prosperity Him that gives it all, but be ever ready 
to use it in His service. Very soon now I hope 
to have a wife to make me a home, and help me 
to do right. We have fixed for our marriage Tues- 
day, the 13th of December. Shall be married in the 
morning, and come right on here. I shall not be 
away from the bank more than two days, and per- 
haps not more than one, as I want to get a fur- 
lough next summer to come home, and let you see 
and get acquainted with Louise. We would both 
have preferred to take a wedding trip home, but 
could not at this time of the year ; and even if we 
could, I could not be spared long enough. I have 
engaged a room and board here. We shall com- 
mence and live as economically as possible, going 
up with increased meaus. I have every prospect of 
getting a good Christian ivife, and one every way 
worthy to be added to the Fisk family. • • • 

15 



114 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

I have not heard from Helen since last week. 
Then she was much better every way, and I hope 
is so still. Pliny gets away now so as to go to 
Philadelphia and attend to his business. He is 
getting along first-rate, and deserves it too, for he 
has worked hard and faithfully. I only wish he 
was in New York, where we could work and study 
together, helping each other. We both are much 
indebted to Uncle Jonathan for his help and good 
counsel. You don't find one man like him out of 
a thousand. 

Rev. Joel Fisk to Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Fisk. 

Irasbtjrg, Vt., Dec. 13, 1853. 
Anticipating your union in marriage on this 13th 
day of December, 1853, we desire to furnish you 
with a memorial of our approbation and good will. 
We have naught of this world's goods to give. We 
have neither silver nor gold, houses nor lands, 
costly raiment nor elegant furniture ; but such as 
we have we freeh' give, — our counsel. And it may 
be that after your beloved Parents have fallen asleep, 
and you see them no more, you will prize this above 
much fine gold. ... As we have travelled the same 
way which you have now just entered over twenty-seven 
years, and have found it a pleasant way, you will 
allow us to give you a few words of counsel. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY EISK. 115 

1st. Consider your union as the ordinance of God, 



and acknowledge the hand of God in bringing you 
together. 

2d. Acknowledge God in all your ways. 
3d. Ever be tender of each other's feelings and 
characters. Remember, each of you, that you are 
united to a being of human passions and infirmities, 
and not of angelic purity and perfection. Still, no 
matter if others receive the impression that you think 
your companion to be without fault or blemish, yet 
in your daily intercourse for years you may some- 
times feel the necessity of forgiving and of being 
forgiven. Be as ready for the one as for the other. 
If ever through ill-health or ill-humour a wound 
should be given, never let the sun go down till that 
wound is healed by mutual concessions and renewed 
expressions of love. 

4th. Be careful about often speaking in jest what 
if taken in earnest would wound the feelings. Real, 
sharp quarrels have often been the result of such 
a course, especially when failings or infirmities are 
made the subject of jest. 

5th. Be careful and keep the expense of your living 
within your means. 

6th. Be liberal in sustaining the institutions of 
religion. 

7th. Take at least one religious publication, and 
keep your minds posted up to the times. 



116 LETTERS OF HARVEY EISK. 

8th. Attend faithfully to your own spiritual 
interests. 

9th. Be kind and faithful to each other in the 
hour of sickness, should such an hour ever come 
upon you. A soothing word spoken and a kind act 
performed at such a time are more valuable than 
gold, and do more than anything towards the cement- 
ing of conjugal affections beyond the possibility of 
dissolution. Kind words, kind looks, and a thousand 
nameless kind attentions are the sweets of domestic 
life which will never sour. 

Lay up this letter as one memorial of your beloved 
Parents, and as an evidence of their sincere desire for 
your welfare, temporal, spiritual, and eternal. May 
the Lord be with you and bless you, our dear son and 
daughter, and make you ever faithful to each other 
and to your God. 

To Rev. and Mrs. Joel Fisk. 

Jersey City, Dec. 14, 1853. 
I am not going to write a letter, only to let you 
know your new daughter is here with me, commen- 
cing her new duties as a w T ife. We were married 
yesterday morning, came immediately on here, and 
have already settled down in our new home, as happy 
as — well, you can judge. In the evening, when all 
alone, we opened and read that letter. We will not 



LETTERS OF HAKVEY FISK. 117 

say thank you, — we can never repay it, only by fol- 
lowing its precepts and teachings. It will do us more 
good than money, or anything else, — a legacy we shall 
prize and keep, and ever cherish it as the wishes and 
advice of our dear parents. . . . Louise is very well, 
never looked better. This afternoon we are going over 
to New York and the Palace, and to-morrow back to 
work. Next summer we hope to come home and see 
you all. The wedding was private, — only a few of 
our nearest friends. Uncle, Auntie, and Pliny were 
there. . . . 

Enclosed you will find two policies, $250 each, which 
Pliny and I have effected for Mother's benefit. Those 
notes we hold of course we never intend to collect ; but 
in case either of us should be taken suddenly away, 
there might be some trouble, so we thought best to 
secure them in this way. I intended to have sent at 
this time a present as a wedding fee, but you may look 
for it along about the 1st of January. My expenses 
have been very heavy this month. Louise enters 
fully with me in all my home plans. She loves you 
all. But it 's most dinner-time, and so I must close. 
Louise is going to add a postscript. I am very well at 
present. 

Harvey has left space for me to add a postscript, 
and I too must thank you both for that dear, good 
letter. We both feel that we can never answer it, but 



118 LETTERS OE HARVEY EISK. 

will endeavour to profit by the good teachings it con- 
tains. It is the best of all our wedding presents. 
Pliny has given me a hearty welcome for himself 
and all the rest of the family, which, added to so 
many other kind words, has made me feel that I 
have indeed a new father and mother, brothers and 
sisters, as well as a good, kind, loving husband. We 
will not call this a letter by any means, but just want 
to let you know that the dear home circle occupy a 
large place in our thoughts, as well as our own imme- 
diate pleasure in each other's society. It is time to 
mail this, so we shall have to close. I suppose you 
will have received the cards sent before this reaches 
you. We shall be glad to hear from you all as soon 
as you can conveniently write. And now good-bye for 
this time, from your ever affectionate children, 

Harvey & Louise. 

To Jonathan Fish. 

Jersey City, Dec. 19, 1853. 
Perhaps you and Auntie are wondering what has 
become of us, — that is, me and my wife — hem! 
Well, here we are in our own nice, cosey little room, as 
happy as any folks under similar circumstances would 
be. . . . We arrived in good time Tuesday, found 
a nice fire in our room, and things looking very 
pleasant ; but a few touches from Louise made it 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 119 

look like different quarters. On Wednesday we 
went up to the Palace. Louise was very much 
delighted. ... 1 feel real dignified, hold my head 
about a foot higher than usual. We have settled 
down into married life without any trouble ; it comes 
very natural. Louise keeps herself busy with work, 
reading, walking, etc. She likes Jersey City very 
much. . . . 

To Rev. Joel Fish. 

New York, March 13, 1856. 
. . . We have succeeded in getting a nice little house. 
It has two stories and an attic, with a kitchen and 
dining-room on the same floor back. That will save 
Louise a great many steps up and down stairs. It 
is in a very pleasant street ; rent, $225. We hope 
to have Sarah with us next winter in our cosey little 
home. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, June 4, 1856. 

. . . Uncle and Auntie were over and spent last 
Sabbath with us. They made a great fuss over the 
baby. Auntie thinks its eyes are just like mother's. 

Louise and the baby are getting along well. He 
grows like fun, talks, and laughs, and is lots of com- 
pany. We have got a little gig for him to ride in ; he 
likes that first-rate. He has never thus far been sick 



120 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

at all, and we hope he may keep well. We want you 
all to see him, but we have not decided yet about 
coming home ; it is a long journey to take so small a 
child. We shall have to think it over awhile yet. 

The weather is very warm, I might say hot. We are 
having all sorts of vegetables, — green peas, asparagus, 
lettuce, etc. I have a little bit of a garden ; have 
sowed some lettuce, beets, tomatoes, and cucumbers. 
We like our new house very much ; it is very con- 
venient. Our landlord has had the water brought in 
in pipes in the cellar, and also on the first floor. . . . 

To Mrs. Joel Fisk. 

Jersey City, Nov. 20, 1856. 
This is Thanksgiving Day, and a bright, beautiful 
day it is ; and as we look back through the past year, 
we find great cause for thankfulness for our many 
blessings. Our dear little Eddie has been granted us, 
and he seems so bright and full of promise for the 
future. We have been prospered, and all our home 
folks — parents, and brothers, and sisters — are still 
alive and joining with us in thankfulness. Our thank- 
offering is this box of knick-knacks for Father, — this 
is Father's box from Harvey and Louise. The rest of 
you are all slighted this time. In it you will find 
among the rest a bottle of old Port wine and a bottle 
of old brandy. I obtained these from a gentleman 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 121 

that imported them himself, and he says he can guaran- 
tee them to be pure and genuine. The wine is the 
pure juice of the grape, and he said he did not think 
there was any as good in New York now. I only 
mention this that you may feel in using it that you 
are not using drugs. There is also some lemon candy 
which is very choice ; and if a person is sick and 
feverish, it tastes very good, — a little bit in the mouth. 
Then there are some lemons, two or three kinds of 
jellies, some fixings for puddings, etc., all of which we 
hope Father will eat and drink, and get fat and well 
again. . . . 

I have been wanting to see Pliny to talk over home 
matters, but have not been able to go over yet. He 
wrote me a note of six lines a day or two ago, and 
said, " I have written Father to stop preaching, and 
we will pay expenses." I feel very willing to join with 
him in this matter, and would like to have you write 
me just what you think of Father's health, and 
whether lie thinks he had better stop and rest now. 
If he does, and I don't know but it would be best, we 
must make arrangements for the future, — where you 
will live, etc. We want you to be fixed very comfort- 
ably. I hope to see Pliny in a few days and talk the 
matter all over with him ; but I must stop now, and go 
nail up the box to have it off in the morning. Write 
very soon, and may God bless you all, and may we all 
live to see many more happy Thanksgiving days. 

16 



122 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To Mrs. Harvey Fisk. 

Plainfield, Vt., Dec. 16, 1856. 

You will probably hear by telegraph of dear Father's 
death before this reaches you. He died about eight 
o'clock this morning. We readied here between 
one and two o'clock in the night, and found Father 
alive, and he knew us all, and talked with us. From 
that time he sank away gradually, and fell asleep. 

Yes, it was like sleep, — scarcely a struggle or 
groan, and all was over. And now he looks so natu- 
ral to us all. His last prayer and wish almost was 
that the " dear children might come," and God 
answered his prayer. He saw us all, and gave us his 
blessing. He asked Mother if we had brought the 
babies. 

The funeral will take place on Thursday, and we shall 
probably leave for home Friday, though one of us may 
have to stay longer on Mother's account. We feel 
very much afraid Mother will be sick. She has borne 
up for six weeks now, almost all the time, night and 
day, but she seems to bear up well. I feel so thank- 
ful we all got home to see him alive again. 

I do want to see you and Eddie so much. Kiss 
him very often for me. Tell him Papa wants to see 
him and Mamma. May God bless and watcli over you 
both ! 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 123 

To Mrs. Joel Fisk. 

New York, Dec. 25, 1856. 

We reached home in safety about 8 p. m. Tuesday, 
after a pretty hard journey on account of the storm. 
Found Louise and little Eddie very well, and of course 
very glad to see us. I was so busy all day yesterday, 
being at the bank till 8 p. m., T had not time to write, 
and I am here to-day spending part of Christmas, and 
have only time this time to write a few words to let 
you know of our safety. . . . 

How much we did think and talk about you all 
and about Father ! I love to talk about him. This lias 
been a great affliction and trial for us all, and we feel 
more especially for you, our dear Mother. May God 
in His goodness bless it to us all, and may we all so 
live as to meet our dear Father and sister and brother 
again. . . . 

To Jonathan Fisk. 

Bank of the Commonwealth, 

New York, Feb. 28, 1859. 

Your letter in reference to our proposed banking- 
house duly received. . . . The first thing in the matter 
to make up our minds to go into business ; the next 
when to commence, and lastly the capital. I put 
capital last, for I think, if we once decide positively to 
go ahead, we can secure enough capital to start on. 



124 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

I am ready and willing to commence making ar- 
rangements at once to start May 1st. I think J have 
sufficiently canvassed the ground to feel a confidence 
of success, and that I have the requisite experience 
to carry on the business in most of its branches. 
Now, if you will think it over seriously, look at it on 
all sides, and come to a decision either pro or con, 
then we will have comparatively plain sailing. You 
will fully understand the importance of this ; and as 
soon as you have come to a decision, I wish you 
would write me. 

It might be well for me to state one or two facts 
in reference to the business. There is a good deal of 
competition in the field, and the business is a good 
deal cut up. It will probably be up hill and hard 
work the first year or two. We could not expect to 
do much more than to make our living and pay ex- 
penses the first year. This is one side of the question ; 
on the other, we have often talked it over, — our 
experience, influence, etc. The fact of the matter is 
just here. I do not wish to urge you to take such a 
step as this, if there is the slightest feeling in your 
mind it would not be for the best. 

If your determination is to enter into this business 
with me, then we can at once settle all preliminaries, 
no doubt, to our mutual satisfaction. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 125 

To the Same. 

Jersey City, Sept. 23, 1859. 

Your letter was received yesterday, and I must say 
I hardly know how to answer it, as I had about made 
up my mind I was fixed, and would not think of mak- 
ing any change for the present ; but I am by no means 
under any obligations to remain where I am if I can 
do much better by leaving. 

I have no doubt there is a great deal of money to 
be made in the private banking business here, and 
that now is a good time to commence, and I feel that 
I could bring experience and influence as well as an 
intimate acquaintance with the ways of Wall Street 
to bear that would be of great service to you. But, on 
the other hand, I have now a good position [paying- 
teller] and a good salary, and I believe the fullest 
confidence and esteem of our directors, and would 
stand a good chance, in case of any change, for the 
cashiership. So you see I would be giving up a good 
deal. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, Dec. 7, 1860. 
. . . Things are blue, and look blue. There has been 
and is no great demand for specie, but the pressure for 
discounts exceeds 1857 by all odds. I have no appre- 
hension that the banks will be forced into a suspen- 



126 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

sion by a run on them ; but if there is not a speedy 
resumption of specie payments throughout the coun- 
try, they may deem it policy to suspend in order to 
equalise exchanges, thus affording a great relief at 
once to the community at large. 

These are certainly very trying times in every 
aspect ; still I do not think that we are all going to 
ruin. There are bright, glorious times ahead of us 
yet. True, one or two States may secede, or try to ; 
but that won't kill us, by any means. We are being 
tried in the fire, and shall come out all the better for 
having the outside melted off, and the rough corners 
knocked off. 

I am certainly in favour of conciliating measures 
and mutual concessions on both sides ; still I am a 
lover of truth and justice also, and am republican 
enough not in any way to swerve from the right and 
kneel to fanatics, whether North or South, even to save 
the Union. 

To the Same. 

New York, Jan. 1, 1861. 
. . . Financially we commence the year badly : a 
general suspension of specie payments by both Govern- 
ment and the banks ; on the eve, I am afraid, of a paper 
currency, to be extended — we don't know how much. 
We are on the eve of foreign wars, unless the ship of 
state is guided with a masterly hand. We are on the 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 127 

eve of great and terrible battles that shall almost 
decide our destiny for weal or woe. Soon will be 
decided the question whether we are still to be one 
great nation, or to be shattered in pieces. 

I have full confidence that we shall be victorious, and 
that the old flag will again wave over all. We are 
strong in the right, we are battling in a righteous cause ; 
but our fighting is only begun when we restore peace 
here. The cloud of an almost universal war is rising, 
and our hope is that when it reaches our land, we as 
one people shall be prepared to meet it manfully. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, May 1, 1861. 
. . . We are going to have a bloody time. The rebels 
will fight like devils. I saw a gentleman to-day 
direct from Richmond, another from New Orleans, 
and another from Savannah, — all from these points 
within ten days. They all tell the same story, — the 
most bitter spirit against the North ; a determination 
to fight as long as life lasts. But we must put them 
down. There are no two sides to the question 
now. If our administration is energetic, and crushes 
them at once with an overwhelming force, it will be 
soon over, and the stars and stripes will wave again 
over a happy people, all of us purified and subdued 
by the severe punishment God sent on us. . . . 



128 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To the Same. 

New York, July 31, 1861 

... If the Bull Run lesson and experience is prop- 
erly applied, it will prove a victory yet. I have great 
confidence in General McClellan, and hope his energy 
and good management may speedily retrieve what we 
have lost. If this defeat will cause our head men to 
wake up and work solely for their country's good, it 
will be gain. 

God has tried us by long years of prosperity and 
peace, and how did we stand it ? And now we are 
being tried by war and general distress, and on its 
result depends the future of our country — let us 
hope and pray for the best. . . . 

To the Same. 

Jersey City, Feb. 15, 1862. 

. . . There is no question in my mind about our 
success, if we are prudent and careful. As soon as we 
hear from Mr. Chittenden and yourself, in answer to 
letters of yesterday, we shall consider matters settled ; 
and shall then, as a preliminary step, draw up a plain 
statement of our understanding of the terms on which 
the capital is to be put in, and send a copy to each one 
interested. Then the necessary legal papers will be 
drawn up and signed, and then the firm of Fisk & 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 129 

Hatch will be under way as soon as possible. We 
want to start the New York house by March 1st, if 

possible. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, Feb. 19, 1862. 
. . . Fisk & Hatch are to do a banking business 
in New York and Washington, one or both, as they 
think best. Yourself and others are to furnish 
them $20,000 capital, as special partners, — this 
amount to be at the risk of the business. Fisk & 
Hatch are to draw $1,500 each as part of the ex- 
penses. After this and all other expenses are paid, 
capital to receive 7% interest, payable semi-annually; 
the remaining profits to be divided equally, one half 
to Fisk & Hatch and one half to capital. If this 
corresponds with your understanding, please let 
me know. Some minor details of course may arise, 
but the above is substantially the grounds of the 
arrangement. . . . 

Circular. 

No. 38 Wall Street, March 12, 1862. 

We have opened our Office this day for the trans- 
action of a General Banking business. 

The card enclosed will explain its nature, and also 
give you the names of some of the gentlemen to whom 
we have special permission to refer. 

17 



130 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

We shall give our personal attention to the various 
branches named, and hope to entitle ourselves to con- 
fidence and success. 

Very respectfully yours, 

Fisk & Hatch. 

To Jonathan Fisk. 

Banking-house of Fisk & Hatch, 38 Wall St., 
New York, July 4, 1862. 

We have been so busy lately, or I should have 
written oftener. Our business has been very heavy 
and profitable. No doubt you are feeling somewhat 
anxious just now, but we are all right. We com- 
menced selling out some days ago, having intima- 
tions of something wrong. The flurry yesterday 
caught us with no government securities except one- 
year debt certificates ; and these, if bad gets worse, 
we can carry till they become due. We had some 
$40,000 gold and silver, some $50,000 old demand 
notes, of which we sold largely yesterday and large 
profits. I write thus particularly at this time to 
save you any anxiety you may feel. Our profits 
last month will foot up some $2,500. 

I sent you one of our 5.20 circulars. If things get 
in shape again, and money easy, this will prove indi- 
rectly a source of large profit to us. 

The times are bad. I am afraid our troubles have 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 131 

hardly commeuced. The small cloud of foreign inter- 
vention grows larger and larger, and we shall have 
trouble there. 

The panic yesterday was terrible. I never saw 
fright so completely turn the brain. Private sales 
of 7.30's were made as low as 98, and coupons, 96j! 
The afternoon news made people feel better, and there 
was a rise. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, Feb. 7, 1863. 

. . . We are getting along very well, and have 
much cause to be thankful. Our net profits on 
March 1st won't be far from $25,000. We might 
have made more, if we had risked more. With this 
solid addition to our capital, and a year's experience, 
we have fair prospects for the coming year. As the 
year is drawing to a close, and the thing is no longer 
an uncertainty, and as the profits are far beyond our 
utmost calculations, there are a few points we want to 
lay before our capitalists for their consideration. 

First, the accumulated profits should remain intact 
until the expiration of the three years. This I pre- 
sume needs no comment, as you can readily see 
the damaging effect to our business of the with- 
drawal of so large an amount. 

Second, as the business has been so profitable, and 



132 LETTERS OE HARVEY EISK. 

as our private expenses are necessarily much in- 
creased in our present position, and as the allowance 
to us for private expenses was placed at a very low 
figure, on account of the uncertainty of our project, 
we think it should be increased to at least $3,000 each, 
to date from the commencement. As the profits are 
so enormous, as compared to the capital, we ought at 
least to have a living before a division. 

I want you to think it over and write me candidly 
your views on the above points. Your decision will 
probably settle the matter. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, March 22, 1865. 

Pliny was here yesterday, and saw your note to 
me. He said you would take 112,500 in the new 
firm of Fisk & Hatch. If this is correct, please mail 
me a draft for the amount. Telegraph me to-morrow 
morning if above amount is correct. You need be in 
no hurry about the draft for a day or two, if it makes 
any difference, — we only want the figures to close our 
capital account. Business is very heavy and trying 
on such a market as we have now, and as the war 
approaches a close, will be much more so. 

We are all very well. Can't you come over with 
Auntie and spend a night with us ? 

In haste, Harvey. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 133 

The account will probably stand : — 

Harvey Fisk $75,000 

A. S. Hatch 75,000 

Pliny Fisk 37,500 

L. E. Chittenden 25,000 

W. B. Hatch 12,500 

L. T. Merrill 12,500 

Jonathan Fisk 12,500 

$250,000 

To the Same. 

New York, Aug. 18, 1865. 
Your note received. We are very busy. The 
Ketchum trouble has added largely to our business. 
Governments are very strong. The demand is enor- 
mous, especially for the seven-thirties. They and all 
governments are going up again. The fact is, the 
frauds and rascalities in and out of banks are causing 
the people to draw their money, and put it where it 's 
safe ; and it 's a glorious feature of the times we are 
in, — the entire confidence the people have in their 
government. 

To the Same. 

New York, Oct. 2, 1865. 
. . . We are all well at home. It was hard for 
Louise coming home, but she bears up well. We 
hope the loss of our dear little one [Lulu] may prove 



134 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

a blessing to ns. We feel deeply your and Auntie's 
kindness in our great first trouble. 

To Harvey Edward Fish and Charles J. Fisk. 

New York, Dec. 27, 1865. 

Papa and Mamma are sitting in the library all alone, 
and have been having a long talk about their dear 
absent boys. " Minnie" [Pliny] and " Akey " [Alex] 
are abed and fast asleep ; Mamma is knitting and talk- 
ing. We know you are having a grand time with 
Grandpa and Grandma, and are as happy as can be. 
We would like to step in and give you both a good- 
night kiss, as we know you have been very good 
boys. 

It was very foggy all the way home after we left 
you yesterday, and we were very glad to get here. 
Ann got us a good dinner, and we all ate like 
Grandpa's white pigs, as we were very hungry. Dr. 
Learning stayed to dinner with us. Mr. Piatt sent 
home the new table, and it is very grand. 

Tell Grandma not to let you eat all the ducks, nor 
let you sleep in the new chicken-house, nor ride on the 
sheep, nor put any pigs in your carpet-bag. 

If Papa cannot come out next week, nor Grandpa 
come over, we will arrange for you to come back when 
Uncle Pliny comes over ; write and let us know. 

Mamma will write a word and send you some good 



LETTERS OF HAKVEY FISK. 135 

kisses, and then we will put this in the lamp-post, 
and let Uncle Samuel take it to our boys. 



To Jonathan Fisk. 

New York, Dec. 29, 1865. 

... I wish you would call and see Dr. Hall, and 
hand him the enclosed twenty-five dollars as a New 
Year's gift towards his library, from Louisa and my- 
self ; and as we neither of us have seen him since the 
funeral of our dear little Lulu, express for us our 
gratitude for his kindness and words of comfort 
in our first great sorrow. 

I am so sorry Auntie was unable to be with us on 
Christmas, but so glad so many of us did meet. It 
draws the family ties closer together, and makes us 
all feel a deeper interest in each other, — these family 
gatherings. May we have many more ! . . . 

To Harvey Edioard Fisk. 

New York, June 11, 1867. 
Your letter of yesterday I received this morning, 
and I was very glad to hear from you, and that you 
were so well and happy. I like just such letters, that 
tell me all you are doing, and how you spend your 
time, and that you keep so good an account of your 
money ; it is a good habit, and will go a great ways 



136 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

towards helping you along as you grow older. Boys 
can't begin too young to form good and correct habits 
and principles of truth and right. I want my boys to 
grow up to be good men, and to do good in this world. 
Papa and Mamma's constant prayer is that they may 
be such. 

I presume that your dear Mamma is with you now, 
and you are all happy. It is just eight o'clock. I am 
in the library, all alone in the house [19th St. & 
4th Ave.]. Mr. McKean will not be here to-night, 
and Ann has gone for " Becky." It is very lonesome ; 
it seems as if Mamma had been gone a month. I do 
want to see you all so much, and long for Saturday to 
come. I wonder how dear little Freddie is, and whether 
Akey was tickled to see his brothers. I have no little 
boy to kiss to-night, for " Eddie and Ta and Pliny 
and you.". . . 

To Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Fisk. 

New York, Nov. 24, 1867. 

Your kind invitation to come to Thanksgiving- 
dinner was received yesterday, and we want to come, 
but how can we ? Our dear boys have been looking 
ahead to Papa's being home all day, to a day of fun 
and rest and enjoyment ; to the big turkey ; to 
going up to see the new house [7 East 38th St.] ; 

to thanking God 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 137 

quietly in our own home for His past mercies and 
blessings the past year, although we have been 
sorely afflicted. It would not seem right for us to 
be away, — we cannot. We will be with you in 
spirit. . . . 

I keep very well, although the pressure of business 
is enormous, and the air is full of black clouds for 
the future. I feel all the time wonderfully cheer- 
ful and happy. Our business is prosperous, and 
with prudence and carefulness and the blessing of 
God, we hope and expect it will continue so. . . . 

Louise and the children unite with me in a great 
deal of love, and would like Auntie to write us one 
of her real good letters, full of the ripe, rich flavour 
she can impart to it, as a cheering relish for our 
Thanksgiving dinner. 



To Harvey Edward Fisk. 

New York, Aug. 13, 1869. 
Your letter was received this afternoon, and pleased 
us all very much. We were glad to hear from you, 
of your safe arrival, and so good an account of the 
building [Riverside], and presume you are enjoying 
every bit of it. Mr. Piatt w r as here this evening, and 
also gave us a good account. I read him what you 
said. He thinks they are pushing things well. He 
is mucli pleased ; he will go out again on Tuesday to 

18 



138 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

return on Wednesday evening, and you can return 
with him. He will come up to the house with you. 
He is going to stake out the roads this time, and you 
can help him ; but be careful and not be in the hot sun 
too much. . . . 

To Master Pliny Fisk, eating his breakfast on the 
table at home. 

" Home," Aug. 26, 1869. 
We have decided to have you go to school with 
Eddie and Charlie, and we trust and hope that Pliny 
will be the very best boy in school, — have every 
lesson well, always be at school in time, do exactly as 
his teacher says, try to do right. 

Your loving Papa and Mamma. 

To Jonathan Fish. 

New York, Oct. 26, 1869. 
We are all first-rate ; how are you ? — and how 
does your new furnace work, and does Auntie treat 
you well, and give you lots of fish ? and have you had 
any earthquakes or hurricanes ? are you long or short ? 
is money tight or easy ? are you a bull or a bear, — 
in fact, what do you think of the situation ? You are 
being " interviewed," and must be careful in your 
answers. Pop ! — whiz ! — this is the way things 
have been going in Wall Street for a month past, 
until the last few days ; now we are as quiet as 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 139 

lambs. The bull and the bear are lying down to- 
gether, and, we hope, never to rise in their previous 
strength. But I presume all this does not interest 
you as much as the price of butter or potatoes ; and 
as for Auntie, tell her I want to see her, and mean to 
between now and next Fourth of July. Tell her to 
secure a small whale, and have it cooking. 

Our good minister, Dr. Hall, returned safe and 
sound, and preaches as heartily and earnestly as 
ever. 

At home in our home we are as happy as usual. 
Louise is very well, and just now marking a lot of 
new linen. The three big boys are going to Mr. 
Hull's school, Eckie is under Miss Anna's charge, 
and the glorious baby [Wilbur] is educating him- 
self ; he has risen to the dignity of small drawers, 
and says a lot of new words. Jim and Ned and 
Charlie's Pet are finer than ever ; and the old 
"mugwum" smokes his usual allowance, eats one 
square meal a day, and is as usual. 

Louisa soberly thinks this is a ridiculous letter, but 
I don't. 

To the Same. 

No. 7 East 38th Street, Jan. 13, 1870. 
. . . We have closed a very prosperous five years' 
term of business, and feel especially thankful that dur- 
ing the great turmoils and decline in gold the past six 



140 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

months, and the almost universal losses of our neigh- 
bours, we have not only saved all we made previously, 
but cleared one hundred thousand dollars. Our busi- 
ness is vast almost beyond belief, and from the fuss 
the papers make over us, one would think we were 
the pride of New York. But we are the same unas- 
suming, steady, hard-working boys we always were, 
and, we hope, thankful to the Giver of all good things 
for His great goodness unto us ; and our constant 
prayer is that we may be prospered only as far as 
shall be for our good, and that we may use our means 
in such a way as shall help in building up His cause 
and kingdom on this earth. . . . 

To Harvey Edward Fish and Pliny Fisk. 

New York, Feb. 23, 1870. 
Your dear parents and dear brothers here at home 
are all so thankful and happy this morning, for we 
received another present from the Lord, — a dear little 
blue-eyed sister [May]. She is very plump and pretty, 
and perfectly formed, and your dear Mamma is very 
much rejoiced, as we all are. When Charlie and 
Eckie and Wilbur went into Mamma's room to see her, 
their eyes were big, I can tell you. Little Wilbur 
looked and looked, and said, " 'Ittle sisser ; " Eckie's 
eyes grew very large, and Charlie laughed, they were 
all so glad. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 141 

Mrs. Baldwin, Cousin Anna, and Uncle Pliny have 
seen her, and so has Ellen ; and Mamma sent word to 
the rest of the girls they would have to wait till baby 
got rested. 

Now, dear boys, we know you will be just as glad as 
we are, and we know you will both thank the Lord 
with us for His goodness, and ask His blessing on 
this dear little one, that her life may be spared unto 
us. Papa and Mamma feel very glad that their dear 
boys have a sister to love and take care of. 

I want you boys to read this letter first, and then 
take it right up to Grandma to read ; she will rejoice 
with you. . . . 

[Riverside] Just Arrived, Oct. 10, 1870. 
Waiting for Dinner. 

Dear Boys and All, — It is so splendid here, and 
we are getting a splendid rest. Wilbur says he has 
got home, and baby May says she wishes boys all 
here. Betsey's face is shining bright. Tommy is 
happy, and little Jimmy Dark has got the whitest 
teeth you ever saw. Selim is dancing, and Old Billy 
laughed the loudest I ever heard him. As to the 
mules, — language won't express their bliss. Pigs, 
hens, chickens, trees, grass, flowers, cat, dog, and 
toad, are all having a jolly time, greeting us. But, 
soberly, we are all glad both sides, and all the above 
and Papa and Mamma and children send lots of love. 



142 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To Harvey Edward Fisk. 

Riverside, Oct. 20, 1870. 

. . . You can realise how much we are enjoying 
every day here, this glorious Fall weather, and this 
beautiful home, the quiet and peace and rest ; and then 
the great pleasure in improving the grounds, and set- 
ting out the trees, and thinking and hoping we and 
our dear children shall live to enjoy it all. To-day 
has been rainy, and the men have not been able to do 
much. Thomas is busy potting plants, and Michael 
in the stable and carriage house. James is cleaning 
windows, and busy generally. Mamma is all over, and 
Wilbur and May are as happy as can be ; now you 
have us all. 

Since writing the above, Mamma and I have taken 
a long walk around the grounds in the rain, then had 
a good supper. Wilbur and May are sound asleep, 
and we are in Papa's room. Mamma is reading the 
" Galaxy," and Papa is finishing his letter to send by 
James. The box arrived safely this afternoon ; am 
much obliged for magazines and papers, — they help 
to fill up the resting spells. We were weighed this 
afternoon, and are alarmed, and think we had better 
get back to New York. Papa weighed 184 lbs., and 
Mamma — thinks the scales are wrong. . . . 

Papa and Mamma feel more and more every day they 
have so much to be thankful for to the Giver of all 



LETTERS OE HARVEY FISK. 143 

good things, — their dear children, their beautiful 
homes, and so many comforts ; and their constant 
prayer is that they may have hearts given them to use 
all in a right way, and that their dear children may 
grow up in the fear and love of God ; and we hope and 
believe that Eddie, by example and precept, will do all 
he can for his brothers and dear little sister. A great 
responsibility rests on the older brothers. Mamma 
sends lots of love to you and Charlie, and we hope to 
see Pliny and Akey by this time to-morrow evening. 



To Jonathan Fisk. 

No. 7 East 38th Street, 
New York, Dec. 22, 1870. 

I came home a few nights ago, tired and cross ; 
grumbled all the evening, and went to bed late in the 
same state ; and during the night met with a most 
singular adventure. I must have been half asleep, 
when I heard a noise in the room, and, on looking up, 
there stood the most happy-looking little man I ever 
saw. He commenced laughing at me, he shrieked 
and roared, and jumped, and rolled over, until I got 
mad, and threw the pillow at him, then my watch and 
boots. He only laughed the louder, — you could have 
heard him a mile off. At last I couldn't stand it, 
and commenced laughing too. He pulled me out of 
bed, and danced me around the room, and we roared 



144 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

for about two hours, when suddenly he stopped and 
set me down on top the bed-post and he hopped on 
the bureau. " And now," says he, u you keep still, 
and hear what I 've got to say, and don't forget a 
word of it. You 're a pretty specimen of a man, to 
be cross and groaning, with so much to make you 
happy, — a real wife, such children, such prosperity, 
such a home, so many friends ; are n't you ashamed 
of yourself ? What 's the matter with you ? What 
more do you want ? " I thought he would never stop 
talking ; so I yelled, and told him to stop, and I 
would tell him. He shut his mouth so quick the 
bureau tumbled over and smashed the mirror. After 
we had mended it, and got quiet again, I spoke as 
follows : " My good wife and I have in Jersey a dear 
good Uncle and Auntie, and we want to cheer their 
good hearts with some token of our great love, 
and now, while our hearts are tender, and when we 
think of the dear old story ' of Jesus and his glory, of 
Jesus and his love,' we want to remember them. He 
has been afflicted for a long time, but is patient, and 
waiting for his rest to come, and she is giving her 
days and nights for his comfort, and they love us and 
our dear children, and we don't know what to send." 
He hopped down ; his face softened ; he said he was 
sorry for all he had said and for laughing at me, so 
put me back into bed, kissed me good-night, and, after 
putting a paper in my hands, went away singing a 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 145 

Christmas carol and left me happy. The next morn- 
ing: Mamma and I followed the directions written on 
the paper, and you will receive in due time three 
packages, — one left Tuesday, and two to-day, — and 
we hope you will enjoy them. 

We are all very well, and of course very happy at 
this time of year. We are fixing the Christmas-tree 
for our dear little ones, and to-morrow we expect 
Mother, Mary, Mamie, and Willie Kinney to stay with 
us over Christmas. 

With much love to both of you, and heartiest wishes 
that you may have a merry and happy Christmas, we 
have only to say good-night. 

Harvey & Louise. 

To Mrs. Jonathan Fish. 

No. 7 East 38th Street, 
Sunday, Feb. 5, 1871. 

... The children are all well and happy ; Wilbur 
and baby May are bright as larks, and are great pets. 
The big boys are going to school, and doing well. 
Eddie is almost a young man, and his natural good- 
ness makes him a comfort to us all. Charlie is hand- 
some and impulsive. Pliny is literal, and has such a 
solemn way about him that we often call him " judge." 
Akey is a prize, — kindness shines all over his face. 
We often say he is Eddie over again. They all have 
strongly marked characteristics, and we hope and 

19 



146 LETTEKS OF HAKVEY FISK. 

pray they may grow up to become good men, and 
take their place, in the whirl and rush of the world 
which is before them, on the side of right and truth. 
We are passing through great events, great things are 
ahead of us ; the world will be shaken and twisted, as 
the forest in a great wind. Impossibilities of a few 
years ago are now mere boy's play ; impossibilities now 
will be laughed at in a few years. What a wonderful 
history twenty-five years ago and now ! And what 
does the rush of wickedness, the rush of goodness, the 
rush of people all over the world, — the railroads, 
steamers, telegraphs, wars, increased knowledge, — 
the generally unsettled feeling of every one and every- 
where, portend for the next twenty-five years ? Those 
of us that live will have to take our stand as never 
before, and pray without ceasing that we may not be 
caught in the whirlwind of doubt and darkness that has 
already commenced, and is being generated as never 
before by the friction of these mighty forces. . . . 

To Harvey Edward Fisk. 

Christmas, 1871. 
Your Papa and Mamma are especially pleased that 
you have tried all this year to do right, and in all 
things to do your duty, and in many ways to be of 
so much help to them. Your brothers have been and 
will always be much influenced by you, and your dear 
little sister will always be your especial care. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 147 

You have been so careful with your money, and 
have used it so judiciously, that we have decided to 
increase the amount for the coming year to $200, and 
want to impress on you three things, — 

First, keep accurate accounts. 

Second, give a share to the Lord. 

Third, keep within your means, and always save 
some. 

The enclosed fifty dollars is a special Christmas gift 
from your Papa and Mamma. 

We wish you a happy and merry Christmas, and 
every blessing for the coming year. 

To Mrs. Joel Fisk. 

New Year's Eve, 1871. 
At the close of this year, so full of blessings, mer- 
cies, and happiness, so much of sorrow and affliction, it 
seemed as if it would not be well closed without writ- 
ing to my mother. The last day of a year is always 
solemn to us all. We cannot help silently reviewing 
the days and months since its birth ; and always prom- 
inent are the great joys and great sorrows, the good 
we have done, the sins we have committed. Have the 
resolutions and vows and prayers we have made been 
fulfilled ? have. we new ones to make ? have we more 
deeply learned our dependence on the good Lord ? 
has the year past been a step upwards or downwards ? 



148 LETTERS OE HARVEY FISK. 

are we nearer home ? are we nearer the dear ones 
gone before us? The last New Year's Day is coming 
to us all ; and may the dawn of the eternal New Year 
be ushered in to us by the " bright morning star," and 
by the joy and happiness of the great reward of a 
well-spent life. 

As for me, I am being tried with blessings I cannot 
number ; my cup runneth over. It is all one side. God 
is doing all for me, I so little for Him, — wife, children, 
homes so beautiful, such plenty, such continued pros- 
perity. He has been very near our little fold, and has 
taken two of them away. They were so dear and 
sweet and beautiful He wanted them for Himself, to 
be near His throne. He honoured us by selecting 
them, — should we be sorrowful or rejoice that they 
are " there," to learn the road and make our entrance 
joyful ? And then, in place of them, He has lent us 
two such dear little ones that our hearts can only cry 
out for great happiness every day. 

Dear Sarah left us this year, but can we grieve 
because she is happy ? No, let us rather thank God, 
and rejoice anew over His dealings with her. Pliny 
grieves over the loss of his dear wife, his children 
grieve over the loss of a dear mother, we all grieve 
with them, and as a family our hearts are very close 
together in sympathy ; but shall we lament because 
God has been and is close to us ? No, rather let us 
pray earnestly for ourselves and for each other, that 



LETTERS OF HARVEY EISK. 149 

when our call comes we shall go joyfully and be able 
to meet those gone before us face to face. All your 
dear children I know will thank God to-night that 
their dear mother is still with them, and can once 
more receive their New Year's greeting. We do from 
this home send the greeting warmly, we send it lov- 
ingly, we send it prayerfully, we send it joyfully ; 
and may every blessing and happiness rest with you 
the coming year; and if the cloud of sorrow comes 
again, may the sun's rays shine clear through to com- 
fort you as it has so often ! 

To Mrs. Jonathan Fish 

New York, Jan. 1, 1872. 
... I cannot, even to you, dear Auntie, express 
my reverence and love for Uncle. His goodness was 
all through him ; for truth and faith and honour, he 
was a model man. His faith and trust in God was as 
clear as the shining star. Reading those letters this 
evening has carried me back many years. I have 
felt mazed and in a dream ever since. I am going 
over and over the first struggles, — the desire to please 
Uncle wells up in my heart. I see that his prayers 
and hopes and wishes have followed me through all 
these years, and I feel and see to-night how much I 
should thank a good Lord for such a friend. Instead 
of looking back and recalling the past, I was there ; 



150 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

and as I read letter after letter, the curtain slowly 
rolled up, and what a future I saw ! 1 saw the years go 
by, — a dear Christian wife, blessed children, flowers 
always in the pathway ; and when the Lord stooped 
down and took for himself two of our bright ones, I 
saw then their beautiful faces again so glorious and 
happy. Success in business, and through all the 
years a good man's prayers going up, — going up all 
the time that I might be always a child in loving the 
Lord. Under great joy or great sorrow hearts go out 
to each other, and are knit and welded together. 



Private Memorandum. 

New York, Sabbath Evening, 
Jan. 14, 1872. 

I believe that God loveth a cheerful giver ; I believe 
that God prospereth a cheerful giver. I pray every day 
that God will prosper me as far as shall be for my good 
and for His glory, and that He will give me the heart 
to do good in accordance with my means. I believe 
that I should give of my substance while living ; I 
should give systematically ; I should give lovingly, 
as to a Father; I should give cheerfully, as to 
a friend ; I should give royally, as to a King ; 1 should 
give meekly, as to a benefactor ; I should give prayer- 
fully, as to my God. As a professing Christian, with 
large means, His honour is in my hands. His loving- 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 151 

kindness, oh, how great ! I hope and pray that my 
dear children may grow up great and good, and that 
we all shall so live here that death itself cannot 
separate us. 

To Alex. a. Fish. 

New York, March 13, 1872. 

Your real nice letters, one to Mamma and one to 
Papa, both received, and we were glad enough to get 
them. You ought to have seen Mamma's eyes sparkle 
to hear from her boy, and to-night I told the dear 
little new sister [Edith] she had such a dear good 
brother she had never seen, way off in the country ; she 
opened her little mouth and big blue eyes very wide. 
We all think she is very sweet and pretty. She looks 
like Wilbur. We are thinking and talking about 
what name we shall give her, — what do you think 
would be nice to call her ? Mamma looks very bright, 
and we think she will be most well again in a few 
days. She sends you a big kiss, and lots of love. 
Wilbur and May and the boys are well. They talk 
about you a great deal. . . . 

To Mrs. Joel Fish. 

Sabbath Morning, Oct. 12, 1872. 
We have just returned from church after taking our 
dear little " Edith " to be baptised. She was a dear, 



152 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

good little girl, and nearly all the time kept her eyes 
fixed on Dr. Hall. It was sermon enough for me ; so I 
came home with Louisa. It is about sixteen years 
since Father baptised our first-born, and the bless- 
ing has thus far descended to them all. Two have been 
taken to live with him, and this blessed Sabbath day 
he and they are very near to us. Sometimes I get 
very tired, and long to be with them and rest, but 
that cannot be until work is done here. I think, as I 
grow older, I grow almost childish in my faith in 
God's promises, and like a child sometimes ask more 
than I ought. I ask that all the children may grow 
up in the fear of the Lord, that they may honour His 
name, that they may be an honour and comfort to their 
parents, that I may be prospered in all my undertak- 
ings, that I may have good judgment in all my affairs, 
that I may have the heart to use my means freely 
in doing good, — and so many other things. . . . 

We are all very well. I am unusually busy, and 
business matters press very heavily ; still I keep well, 
— good appetite and good rest. To be sure, gray hairs 
are coming very fast, and the abundance of this 
world's goods has less and less value in my eyes, — 
only as far as it enables me to make those dependent 
on me happy and comfortable, and to do good as 
occasion may arise. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 153 

To Mrs. Harvey Fish. 

New York, Aug. 12, 1873. 
. . . Business is very good, and the new advertise- 
ment is telling in the right way. I sent you a copy of it 
to-day. Am also filling the papers about Chesapeake 
& Ohio, and hope to get up a real enthusiasm. I 
go down to the office early, and overlook everything. 
The papers are making some ugly attacks on the 
Central Pacific ; but I really believe this gives me 
great strength. My contrary side comes to the front, 
and makes me strong to fight them all. If the Central 
Pacific people themselves would use a little more good 
judgment, it would be a great help. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, Aug. 27, 1873. 

. . . Riverside grows nearer and dearer to us all 
every year. I did want to come out very badly to- 
night ; but it did not seem best. 

Business requires very close watching. The money 
market is getting disturbed again, and the signs are 
evident of hard work ahead of us. 

1 am well, very well, and am surprised at myself 
in good spirits ; and mountains don't seem nearly so 
high — I presume such a very good wife as I have got 
accounts in a great measure for it all. . . . 

20 



154 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To Harvey Edward Fish 

New York, Sept. 9, 1873. 

I suppose you are in your new home this evening, 
have got everything to rights, and thinking it would 
be nice if Papa could walk in and see you, and that 
you could have a talk with Mamma, and see the 
dear sisters and brothers ; but I feel you are happy 
and contented, and ready to commence with a good 
heart your college life. Four years seems now a long 
time, but it will come and go, and when over will, after 
all, be but a moment. Still, on its record will depend 
your whole future. The daily incidents, the trials and 
cares, the battles fought and icon, the duties done, will 
all leave their stamp. The earnest prayer for strength, 
for good judgment, for success in your studies, will 
surely be answered. 

Do the best you can; keep a clear conscience, and 
trust the result to the Lord. Take the Bible for 
your chief text-book and guide. You shall have our 
prayers every day ; we shall be with you in heart and 
soul all the time, and you may be sure the bright days 
will be when Eddie comes home to make a visit. In 
writing home, especially to Mamma, remember that the 
daily incidents and experiences, the acquaintances 
you make, all about the college and professors and 
men, will be very interesting to us ; we want to feel 
each day. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 155 

As you get better acquainted with matters and 
things, write me about the wants and special advan- 
tages of Princeton ; take a lively interest in its good 
and welfare. Learn all about the Seminary, — and 
by the way, I wish you would call on Dr. McGill, when 
you get time, and introduce yourself. He is a good old 
man, and will be much pleased by the attention. . . . 

To Mrs. Savvey Fisk. 

New York, Sept. 16, 1873. 
Mr. Hatch has just left, after a long evening's 
business. He and Mr. Huntington were here all 
last evening, — this week is very tiresome, and I shall 
be so glad when Saturday comes. Things are very 
feverish and unsettled. I am well, and have a good 
appetite. . . . 

To Harvey Fdwa7*d Fisk. 

New York, Oct. 5, 1873. 

Your good letter to Mamma was received, and we 
were very glad to hear of your happiness and interest 
in your studies ; and believe we all were guided aright 
in the decision for you to go right along with your 
studies as usual. If the day comes that duty points 
to your coming back and going to work, I know we 
and you will all cheerfully obey ; until then you can 
go right ahead with a cheerful heart. 

I have not much to report yet about the affairs 



156 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

of Fisk & Hatch. We are working as hard as we 
can to right our affairs to resume business again, 
and hope to succeed, but are not far enough advanced 
yet to be sure of anything. Oar creditors all talk well, 
but as yet we have not been able to get them to a de- 
ciding point ; but this week ought to determine pretty 
well what is in store for us. Of course, at times I 
get very much discouraged, but on the whole think I 
am standing the bitter trial very well. One thing is 
sure, — the courage and love of Mamma and my big 
boys goes a great way to keep me strong ; and if the 
worst comes, we will all face it manfully, and together 
bear the burden, believing the stroke is intended for 
our good. Perhaps we were forgetting the Giver of all 
our happiness and prosperity. 

Dear Mamma and the children are very well. The 
boys seem earnest and diligent in their studies ; the 
dear little ones are as sweet as ever, and we all 
talk about Eddie. 

I have been home all day, taking a good rest, 
which I sorely needed, and hope to commence the 
hard work of the week fresh and bright and with 
good courage. . . . 

To the Same. 
New York, Sunday Evening, Oct. 12, 1873. 
Mamma and I have thought and talked a great deal 
about Eddie this evening. The boys went to one of 
the Alliance meetings, and so we were all alone. We 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 157 

enjoy your letters so much, — we almost seem to be 
with you. I wish it was so we could spend some 
Saturday with you. Mamma is very anxious that I 
should see your rooms, etc. I may be able to after 
a few weeks, if matters get settled. I long to go to 
Riverside for a few days, out of sight of Wall Street, 
and get a good rest. Still I am well and in good 
spirits. Our (F. & H.) matters took a long stride 
towards resumption last week, and if we do as well 
this week, we can almost name the happy day. We 
have had no trouble, or even signs of it, from any 
of our creditors, and hope not to ; on the other hand, 
the most cordial good feeling still prevails. You 
shall be kept posted of any positive good or bad that 
may turn up, and in the mean time keep up a good 
heart. 

New York has been stirred to the core by the 
sessions of the Evangelical Alliance which closed 
this evening, and the rush was so great they had 
to open, in addition to the Academy of Music, Asso- 
ciation Hall, Steinway Hall, and Tammany Hall, and 
all crowded to overflowing. The boys went to Tam- 
many. I hope the meetings will go to Princeton, so 
that you may have a chance to hear and see some of 
them. 

We are all well, and just as usual. Of course, 
through the week I am very busy, as every moment 
is precious, all the day and all the evening. The 



158 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

three largest banks reported favourably yesterday, 
which, of course, will help us along with the rest, and 
we shall go at them with a rush this week. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, Oct. 26, 1873. 

I believe I have wished forty times to-day that 
Eddie was here. The boys, Charlie and Pliny, are 
at Riverside, and it almost seemed as if Mamma 
and Papa were going back to the days when they 
had no children. We went to church this morning, 
and this afternoon 1 took a long sleep, which I very 
much needed, and this evening feel better and rested, 
but very restless. These long days and weeks of wait- 
ing and watching and working are very tiresome, but 
we hope the sun will shine out gloriously again before 
long, and in its light and warmth we shall forget the 
darkness. But it maybe there are darker days ahead 
of us yet, and that the bitter cup is to be drained 
deeper before the light comes ; and if so, we must 
meet it manfully, trusting in the Lord for strength 
to bear it. 

Don't think I am getting discouraged. On the 
other hand, I am much encouraged by the last 
week's work. A large number have signed our 
papers, and among them nearly all the largest, but 
this makes me more anxious about the rest. We 
hope to make great progress this week, and that 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 159 

another Sabbath may see us safe. One great cause 
of anxiety now is the fear that the Chesapeake & 
Ohio will not pay their coupons due November 1st. 
It will have a very depressing effect if they do not. 
The company itself is not able, and so we are work- 
ing to get "that rich board of directors " to do their 
duty. It was rumoured on the "street" Friday 
afternoon that we had resumed, causing for a short 
time a very great burst of enthusiasm. I mailed 
you a copy of the Herald about it, — what a pity it 
was to spoil it all ! 

On the result of the next two weeks will depend 
the good and welfare of this country for a long time 
to come, — either a decided turn for the better or 
worse, much worse than anything seen yet. 

We here at home are well, and happy as usual 
with each other. The little ones are just as nice 
and beautiful as ever ; Mamma is well, and keeps us 
all in good spirits. . . . 

I hope you are getting along to your own satis- 
faction with your studies and other duties. Keep 
ahead of everything, if possible ; it is much easier. 

To the Same. 

New York, Not. 2, 1873. 
. . . The past week has been a hard, trying time 
for all business men, and at one moment it looked 
as if the whole country was going to ruin ; but things 



160 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

looked better Saturday evening. It was a bitter dis- 
appointment to us, the non-payment of the Chesapeake 
& Ohio interest. We did all we could, but no use. 
What will happen to the road next, with such a Board 
of Directors, it is impossible to tell. Of course we 
shall have all the unpleasant part of facing the bond- 
holders, but, like every other duty, if squarely met, it 
is never so bad as we fear. We are getting along 
slowly with our plans for resumption ; got several sig- 
natures this last week, and expect a good many more 
this. Those left all act as if they thought they might 
get better terms by holding out, and we have to beat it 
out of them. Uncle Pliny is giving us great help. He 
is the best one to deal with the stubborn ones. , . . 

Don't think your Papa is getting vain, but Mamma 
looked so good and nice this evening, and, we being 
all alone, I whispered in her ear, " Please put on your 
diamond ear-drops ; " and so she did, and she looked 
so cheery I told her at once she must put them 
on Thanksgiving Day in honour of her big boy 
Eddie. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, Nov. 16, 1873. 

It is a long time since last Sabbath day, when we 

were at dear old Riverside. As you know, we stayed 

there until Thursday afternoon, and such a good, quiet 

resting-time as we did have ! It did me a great deal 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 161 

of good, and was just what I needed, — Mamma knows. 
On my return, I found considerable progress in F. & 
H.'s matters, and we closed up Saturday with all 
but three or four of the hard cases finished, and these 
we shall press very hard this week. We ought by 
next Saturday night to be nearly cleaned up ; but we 
have been disappointed so often, and so many weeks, 
that I shall not hope too strong. It may be and 
probably is for our good that we have been so long 
delayed. The times are now becoming more settled, 
and I can see real cause to hope the worst of this 
great financial panic has passed ; and I think the 
resumption of Fisk & Hatch will spread a glow of 
good feeling and renewed hope all over the land. 
I will, of course, keep you closely posted. . . . 

To the Same. 
New York, Sabbath Evening, Nov. 23, 1873. 
... I was glad to hear of the reform move among 
the students, and hope it will result in great and per- 
manent good. Still, much will depend on the action 
of the Committee ; they must temper their zeal with 
good judgment, act quietly, surely, and with a purpose, 
do nothing hastily or in anger, and be very sure you 
are right before you make any move. I should think 
much could be done in trying to elevate the standard 
of true manliness among the students ; and to this 
effect a course of popular lectures on this and kin- 

21 



162 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

dred subjects, from such men as Theo. L. Cuyler, 
Rev. John Hall, Geo. H. Stuart, Dr. Taylor, and 
other champions of temperance and right, might do 
a great deal of good. The surest way to correct great 
moral evils is through the hearts of men ; if they 
are right, the evils die out of themselves. You may 
shut all the liquor shops and such places, and if 
you do not or cannot elevate the moral standard 
among the students, it will do little good. . . . 

F. & H. are making progress, but not as fast as 
I should like ; still Ave are getting towards the end, 
and hope for the best. 

To the Same. 

New York, Dec. 8, 1873. 
1 hoped to have written you this evening that F. & 
H. were through with all the hard cases, but we are 
not quite. The Mechanics' Bank and the Brooklyn 
Bank, that have bothered us so long, both signed 
our papers to-day. We have almost the promise of 
another hard one to-morrow morning ; then, after we 
get the Hoboken Bank fixed, the rest will be easy. 
We have a plan working which will settle this, we 
hope ; but if it fails we must try again. It has been 
awfully hard work, but will pay for it all if we 
succeed. ... Do you know it, that next Saturday 
will be the twentieth anniversary of your Papa and 
Mamma's marriage ? Twenty years full of true hap- 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 163 

piness. In all this, and in the clear good bright 
children we have, and even in the two dear ones taken 
to the heavenly home, we feel the Lord has blessed 
our wedded life ; and may we all so live that we shall 
all at last be gathered together in that other home, 
where the dear little ones have gone before us. 

Now, good-bye, and don't get impatient for good 
news ; and if things take a wrong turn again, don't 
let us get discouraged. It is all sent for some 
wise purpose. 

To the Same. 

New York, Dec. 10, 1873. 
We are making splendid progress this week, and 
hope to close up matters in a very few days. The 
Hoboken Bank is virtually fixed ; the Mechanics 
Bank, the Brooklyn Bank, and Chardavoyne have 
signed. . . . The prospect is fair of closing with R. 
Irvin & Co. to-morrow, and the balance before Saturday 
night. We are keeping it to ourselves, as, if possible, 
we want to surprise every one, and resume some bright 
morning next week ; and then for a stir ! The whole 
country seems anxious for our resumption, and of 
course all this is pleasant. If we only escape a few 
days more without legal proceedings, of which we 
have no expectations, we shall be happy enough. If 
I telegraph you between now and Saturday, simply 
naming a day, you will know what it means, and that 
morning you can thank the Lord, and give three 



164 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

cheers. You are of course feeling anxious and hope- 
ful about your examination. Keep in good spirits, 
get good rest, and do the best you can, — your whole 
duty, — and be cheerful over the result ; and when 
you come home, your twenty -year-old Papa and Mamma 
will kiss you, anyway. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, Dec. 14, 1873. 

... As I flashed you last evening, " things 
look well," etc. The last three or four are very tire- 
some, but we shall push them hard this week. Our 
creditors are remarkably patient, — not a single suit 
commenced yet, and we hope none will be. The 
Central Pacific and Chesapeake & Ohio bonds are ad- 
vancing, on a feeling that our resumption is near. . . . 

I have been very well lately, only very much dis- 
appointed that we did not finish up last week ; but it 's 
all for the best, and that 's some comfort. Uncle 
Pliny has been here all the week hard at work. I 
don't know what we should have done without him. 
Mr. Hatch keeps well, and is working hard. 

Draft of Unissued Circular. 

Banking-house of Fisk & Hatch, 
New York, Dec. 23, 1873. 
To our Depositors and Customers : 

We to-day resume our business after a suspension of 
over three months, and it is proper we should now say 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 165 

a few words of explanation as to the immediate cause 
of our trouble, believing in your sympathy, and thank- 
ful for the great kindness and patience shown by all 
awaiting our resumption, evinced by the fact that 
although our liabilities reached the sum of 88,300,000, 
they have been settled without even an approach to 
any legal proceedings, — the more remarkable as our 
creditors were nearly 500 in number. Still, we were 
delayed by various causes, — the long-continued panic, 
the failure of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad to 
pay its November interest, the difficulty of collecting 
moneys due us, etc., — but a steady looking and work- 
ing for the one object of resuming business, and put- 
ting ourselves in position to pay every one in full, has 
brought us to this happy day. We are again Fisk 
& Hatch, alive, and as such we greet you ; and in our 
hearty intercourse of the future may these dark days 
be forgotten ! 

Our firm commenced its life March 12, 1862, at 
No. 38 Wall Street, with a capital of 115,000. We 
grew and prospered year by year, always avoiding 
speculation, and never speculating even for others. 
In time, we became financial agents for the now 
great Central Pacific Railroad Company, and with 
what success you well know. Its bonds, nearly 
$50,000,000 in amount, rank the world over as first- 
class ; and this year, besides earning interest on this 
vast amount, it will also earn over seven per cent on 
its paid up capital of over $54,000,000. 



166 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

After the completion of the Central Pacific, our 
attention was called to the Chesapeake & Ohio Rail- 
road, and after a long and thorough examination, we 
decided to accept of its financial agency. There was 
great need of another grand trunk line from the 
Atlantic seaboard to the producing millions of the West. 
The President, C. P. Huntington, associated with him 
in his Board of Directors some of New York's most 
honoured and greatest mercantile names. The work 
was entered into with that vigour and energy that 
New York men are noted for. The work was literally 
pressed night and day for three years ; and just at 
the moment of completion of the main line, when the 
reward was in sight, the terrible panic struck us and 
them. We had sold upwards of $20,000,000 of their 
bonds, believing them to be good ; and our belief is 
just as strong to-day, if only the bondholders and 
creditors of the Company will show proper leniency to 
them at this moment, of which we have no doubt. 

Our business was large in the various branches of 
banking, and extended to all parts of the country, 
when we were suddenly brought to a stand-still with 
not a moment's notice. On the 18th of September 
our payments exceeded $1,250,000. On the morning 
of the 19th, before half past ten, we were notified to 
pay nearly $2,000,000 at once ; and it being certain 
that we could not reborrow, or sell any securities 
however good, we felt it our painful duty to suspend 
payment, and save our assets intact for our creditors. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 167 

Our statement was all ready the next day, and on the 
Monday evening following laid before four of the most 
prominent bank officers of this city. After a long 
and careful examination, and finding an excess of 
assets over liabilities of nearly $2,500,000, they felt, 
with us, that we could pay every dollar we owed, and 
have a large surplus, if the creditors would grant 
sufficient time. This they have done, and we resume 
our business to-day. For depositors with balances 
less than $5,000, some 300 in number, we are pre- 
pared to cash drafts at once. Our business will be 
continued as before, and consists mainly of the 
following branches : — 

Deposit accounts, on which we allow interest at the 
rate of four per cent per annum. 

Certificates of deposit, issued available in all parts 
of the United States, and at rates of interest agreed 
at the time of issue. 

Collections made for merchants in any part of the 
United States or Canada. 

At our counter department we buy and sell gold, 
silver, and foreign coins ; collect coupons and divi- 
dends, etc. 

We also shall continue to deal in Government 
securities of all classes, and to execute orders at the 
Stock Exchange for investment stocks and bonds. 

We also shall continue our financial agency of the 
Central Pacific and Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad 



168 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

Companies, and, in every way we can, watch the 
interests of the bondholders. 

In closing, we again thank you all, and also the 
press generally, for your uniform kindness to us in 
our great trouble ; and venture to hope that our former 
relations may be renewed and cemented by many 
years of happy business intercourse in the future. 

To Mrs. Joel Fish. 
Telegram. 

New York, Dec. 24, 1873. 
All right again. We have resumed. 

Harvey. 

To Harvey Edward Fisk. 

New York, Jan. 18, 1874. 

. . . Dr. McCosh called in to see me early last week. 
He was very pleasant, and spoke very highly of the 
good qualities of a certain young collegiate that we 
take a great interest in ; and to-day Mr. Thomas U. 
Smith met me at the church door, and said he had 
been to Princeton, and that the Doctor told him that 
this same young man possessed " sterling qualities ; " 
all of which Papa and Mamma, in talking it over, de- 
cided was no news to them. Still, they were pleased, 
and in their hearts again thanked the Lord for all His 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 169 

blessings. I don't write the above without a purpose, 
— it shows how quick a young man makes his mark, 
and that he is noticed more than he thinks. In these 
days of whirl and excitement, of positive good and pos- 
itive bad, it is necessary more than ever to take a 
decided stand ; and to keep it requires more than our 
own strength. I was much struck with a remark in 
Dr. Hall's sermon to-day ; he said : " Oh, I can throw 
off this or that bad habit any time I wish," was the 
devil's way of binding the chains ; the only way was 
never to begin. . . . 

I feel several years younger this evening. Business 
is very brisk, and, so far, profitable. Of course, I 
feel anxious about the result of our next four years' 
work, but shall do my whole duty, work hard, and 
trust the result to the Lord. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, Jan. 25, 1874. 
Here we are, Mamma and I, in the dear old 
library, the little ones all abed, and Charlie out, — 
gone to Dr. Taylor's church. It is very cold. It 
almost took our breath away, walking down to church. 
We all went this morning, and this afternoon Charlie 
and Pliny went with me. Both sermons were good, 
but this afternoon especially, — one of Dr. Hall's best. 
The opening hymn was one of our old favourites, — 
35th Hymnal, " Whilst thee I seek, Protecting Power ; " 

22 



170 LETTERS OE HARVEY FISK. 

open to it, and while } t ou play it, read the words. They 
impressed me as never before ; the second verse 
came right home, — 

" Thy love the power of thought bestowed, 
To thee my thoughts would soar; 
Thy mercy o'er my life has flowed; 
That mercy I adore." 

Your letter to me interested me very much, and I 
have thought about it a great deal. You are doing 
just the best thing you can to break a bad habit ; 
that is, to pray hard for help to overcome it. Temp- 
tations are always after us ; the devil is a living 
reality, — he is ever ready to enter, and will, unless 
the Lord has entered before him, and taken up all the 
room. The temptation to make fun of religious 
matters or persons is not what you meant to say ; we 
all are prone and do make fun of make-believes, or of 
persons that make professions very loudly and act 
otherwise, — such as Deacon Jones taking a drink on 
the sly, or Brother Smith at a horse-race, or Rev. 
Mr. Brown at the theatre, etc. ; but do we ever 
think otherwise than with great respect of such a 
man as Dr. Hall ? Do we for one moment question 
his sincerity ? Is it not sure that it is not the true, 
the sincere, and manly that we are prone to ridicule, 
but just the opposite ? And now let this comfort you. 
Still, on the other hand, be on your guard, and never 
ridicule sincerity and truth, or allow others to do so 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 171 

without a protest ; and in all this it is the earnest 
and daily prayer of your parents that you may be led 
aright, that Christ may be your dearest friend, and 
that all your power and influence may be devoted to 
advancing His Kingdom on this earth. 

We are all very well and happy. May and dear 
little Edie are just sweet, and Mamma is happy and 
good. . . . 

Business matters are working well. We have 
all we can do, and increasing weekly. The Chesa- 
peake & Ohio concern is righting very slowly, and 
gives me some anxious thought ; but we will hope for 
the best. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, Feb. 1, 1874. 

. . . We were disappointed you could not be with 
us to-day, but yet felt your reasons for not coming 
were good. Whatever seems clearly the line of duty, 
is the thing to do. . . . 

We have spent this Sabbath as we generally 
do, — quietly, restfully, and happily. This morning 
we all went to church, and Dr. Hall preached one of 
his solemn, earnest sermons, that do so much good. 
This afternoon he preached on the Bible, and so 
simply and plainly stated the Christian platform for 
their belief in its Divine origin, that any child could 
understand. You know how strongly he believes 



172 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

what he believes, and with what tremendous force he 
piles argument and assertion and self-evident truths 
on each other, and then clinches them by " Thus saith 
the Lord." The church is as crowded as ever, and 
there is evidently a deeper interest than usual. When 
we think of the few days of this life, and the endless 
ages of the next, and believing that we are to live all 
through those ages, why should we not all be earnest 
about preparing for that future life ? . . . 

Don't let the cold weather scare you off from 
taking all needed exercise. Much of the good you 
are intended to do in this world will depend on good 
health. 

Business is very good and profitable, and of course 
I keep very busy, and also very well. The Chesa- 
peake & Ohio matters don't brighten up much ; there 
does n't seem to be much head to anything. The new 
bonds are selling slowly so far, but will improve after 
being better known. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, Feb. 8, 1874. 
... I have said nothing about the College Regatta, 
but my impressions have always been that the ten- 
dency of such things was bad. It would seem to me 
that it might beget betting, carousing, and a general 
inattention to the solid duties of college life. You 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 173 

can well judge, after watching the course of events 
this summer. My instincts have always been opposed 
to all sorts of races, under whatever name or guise. 
" All work and no play " is a very poor proverb for 
the generality of young men, as they use it for an 
excuse for " all play and no work." Proper rest and 
recreation is a great necessity ; a good manly tone 
and spirit, accompanied with good muscle, is a bless- 
ing ; a good solid education is a thing to be devoutly 
thankful for : but neither can be gained by cram 
weeks of study or exercise. 

To the Same. 

New York, Feb. 15, 1874. 
... I went last Friday evening to the first com- 
mittee [Building Committee of Fifth Avenue Presby- 
terian Church] meeting this year, but hereafter shall 
try and attend them all. . . . The matter of window- 
glass came up, and no positive result was reached ; 
still, it developed considerable diversity of opinion. 
Some said plain window-glass. I took the ground 
that we should have rich stained glass, and that, as 
no other part of the interior would bear embellish- 
ment, we should put it here ; was I right ? In the 
main, the work is getting along well, although some- 
what behind-hand, and it will be tight work to get 
in this year. . . . 



174 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To the Same. 

New York, March 1, 1874. 

. . . There seems to be an unusual interest in 
religious matters in New York just now, and, in fact, 
the whole world is stirred up and preparing for a 
great fight with evil in every form. The struggle in 
Germany to throw off the Roman Catholic coils is 
extending all over Europe, and sooner or later there 
will come such a crash as the world never saw. The 
wonderful revivals in Scotland, already extending to 
Ireland and England, are the natural result of long 
years of forms and ceremonies. The Gospel, pure 
and simple, is asserting its rights ; the woman's 
temperance movement, at first laughed at, then won- 
dered at, is extending all over the land, and gather- 
ing force as it widens. Thinking people all over the 
world are saying, " What does all this mean ?" God 
is moving the hearts of men for His own purposes. 
Let it go on until the whole world is stirred up, and 
right and truth shall prevail ! 

On this bright first day of Spring we, as a family, 
have much to thank the good Lord for. He has pre- 
served us through terrible trials ; He has set us on 
our feet again ; He has preserved our lives and health 
and strength ; He has provided for all our wants, and 
brought us out of our great tribulation. Let us, as a 
family, serve Him more heartily and faithfully. We 
hope all our dear children will come out on the Lord's 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 175 

side, and especially that our splendid boys will be- 
come men mighty in battling for the Truth. They 
are coming on to the stage of life's action at a won- 
derful period in this world's history, — a period when 
there will be a fight over every inch of this world 
between good and evil. 

. . . Edie and May are getting to be quite young 
ladies. Edie talks everything. The boys are doing 
well in school. Wilbur goes regularly, and is learn- 
ing to read quite fast. Business is good, and Chesa- 
peake matters begin to show just a little improvement. 
Business on the road is increasing rapidly. The 
bondholders are funding their coupons as fast as they 
can be handled. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, March 26, 1874. 
I fully intended devoting a part of this evening 
to writing a " birthday " letter to our dear, eldest- 
born son ; but Mr. Huntington and Mr. Hatch have 
been here all the evening on important business mat- 
ters, and have only just gone (11 p. m.) ; so I will 
content myself with a few lines of love and congratu- 
lations. You don't need to be told that the hearts of 
your dear Papa and Mamma are running over with 
love for you, and with thankfulness that the good Lord 
has given them a son of whose genuine goodness and 
sterling qualities they are proud, — who is such a 



176 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

comfort to them, and who is a companion and friend 
as well as one of their dear children. 

We are living our lives over again in our children. 
We cry to the Lord every day for their good and wel- 
fare, and that the blessing may descend on them, — 
and especially for you, dear Eddie, that your heart 
may be given to Him, and that in your striving for 
wisdom of things of this earth, you may gain wisdom 
and knowledge of things heavenly. Our hearts' de- 
sire and prayer to God is that we, and you, and all 
our dear children may in the end be gathered to- 
gether in our heavenly home. We believe you feel 
as we do. This life is short at the best. We are in 
the vestibule, narrow, crowded, and dark; and when 
the doors for us are opened, and we enter in, the 
glorious beauty of the building will make us wonder 
why we clung so to this life. Still, life has its duties 
and cares and happiness, and we must take them on 
us, and do the best we can. We, one and all, send 
love, and hopes that many happy birthdays are in 
store for you, and our earnest prayers that God may 
bless you and watch over you and keep you ever 
and ever. 

To Mrs. Harvey Fisk. 

New York, May 12, 1874. 
I know you will be rejoiced to hear that we have 
probably arrived at a settlement with the Chesapeake 
& Ohio Company. After two weeks of most intense 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 177 

thought and desire to be guided to such conclusions 
that would prove best for all our creditors and the 
bondholders, and at the same time be fair to ourselves 
and just to the Chesapeake & Ohio Company, we at 
last decided to present to Mr. Huntington to-day our 
[my] paper ; and unless he changes his mind over 
night, the matter is settled. 

While the settlement is not all we could desire, it 
is so much better than the one first proposed by Mr. 
Huntington, that we feel we have done well. It will 
involve great sacrifice on our part, hard work and 
close economy for years to come ; but if we come out 
victorious, pay all our creditors, and save the bond- 
holders, and even have nothing left ourselves, we can 
rejoice and be glad, and thank the Lord. 

If to-morrow morning completes the settlement, we 
shall then go to work with all our energies to set up 
the credit of the Company again ; and I know we can 
make a great change very soon. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, May 14, 1874. 
The Chesapeake & Ohio matter is all in the suds 
again, and for the moment all negotiations are broken 
off. On the one hand, I feel it too deeply to laugh, 
cry, or get mad ; on the other I am glad, and feel 
that we have got a short breathing-spell in which to 
regain our strength and courage. 

23 



178 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To Harvey Edward Fish. 

New York, May 22, 1874. 

. . . Pliny went to Riverside this evening, a happy 
boy, as he goes to stay. He has been a very good 
boy with me the last three weeks ; he has been busy 
in the back yard this week, and it looks beautiful. 
Shaeffer sent over a large box of plants, and he 
(Pliny) set them out with great taste. 

I wrapped up several papers for you this week, but 
discovered this morning that James had neglected to 
mail them ; so you will get the whole batch this even- 
ing, together with a picture of the pulpit in the new 
church. I was up there Wednesday afternoon, and 
think they are making rapid progress ; in a month from 
now the roof should be on, and the front stone-work 
nearly completed. I do hope these hard times won't 
prevent a good sale of the pews next winter, as much 
of the future comfort of occupation depends on that. 
Let me know how you like the pulpit architecture ; 
the picture looks like the entrance to some grand old 
ruins of ancient days. When the grand-organ case is 
backed up top of that again, the effect will be simply 
stunning. 

If the whole great building is being built to honour 
the Lord, then the people will with one voice sound 
His praise ; if to honour man, then we shall with sev- 
eral voices have trouble before many years pass by. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 179 

Whatever we do, especially in erecting a house in 
which to worship our Heavenly Father, we should 
show that we love and honour Him, and, in accordance 
with the means He has granted us, do more than we 
would even to please and show our reverence and love 
for a very dear earthly father. 

And now, dear Eddie, while I admire your aversion 
to " cant," and peculiar " pious " people, and shabby 
" saints," still do not forget that there are really good 
pious people, and even saints, in the true sense of the 
word, on this earth ; and don't let your mind get into 
the habit of dwelling too much on words ; they are 
nothing, often, but the devil's terms of reproach when 
a good man stumbleth. The devil's army commit 
millions of crimes and faults, and no howl is raised ; 
but let a Christian man, or a supposed one, do the 
same, and the yell of delight and derision that goes 
up in the devil's dominions at pious people is almost 
incredible. Shall we even risk helping him by join- 
ing in the chorus, knowing that human judgment is 
so often at fault, and that only One can see the heart ? 
When I say my father was a pious, good man, and a 
saint on earth, if such can be, I mean it. He was 
with this a noble, manly man, and commanded great 
respect from all. When I see a sneaking, snivelling 
man going around calling himself pious, and cheating 
and taking advantage every chance he can get, I 
think the devil has overshot the mark if he supposes 



180 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

the fall of his pious saint is going to gain much for 
his cause. 

Chesapeake & Ohio matters still in the suds ; we 
have settled terms of settlement with Mr. Huntington, 
and now Mr. Low says they shall not be carried out, 
— and so it goes. General business is good ; there 
has been a great scare and decline in Central Pacifies, 
on account of the probable tumbling down of a little 
one-horse road called the California Pacific. The 
Dutchmen have been frantic. 

To Mrs. Harvey Fisk. 

New York, June 9, 1874. 

Your welcome letter was received this morning ; 
and I was so glad to hear from you and the dear chil- 
dren. So many accounts come of the terrible havoc 
in New Jersey from yesterday's storm, that I feel very 
anxious to hear from Riverside. Everybody is talk- 
ing about the storm to-day. 

Nothing to report to-night about our matters. I 
have been anxious all day ; but when Mr. Huntington 
came in to-night, and said he had called the New 
York Directors together for to-morrow noon, and that 
he should tell them he had made up his mind to let 
the " whole " thing go to ruin, unless they came up 
and did their share, I felt relieved at once, — not 
because I thought they would do anything, but be- 
cause it may bring matters to a short and decisive 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 181 

conclusion. If such should be, we are in no imme- 
diate danger, as our June 24th payment is assured, 
and then we have until December 24th to arrange 
matters. 

I tell you all, as I know you are a brave, good wife, 
and would feel more anxious if you thought I was 
keeping back anything. So don't worry one bit ; the 
storm was dark and terrible last night, but the sun 
did shine bright to-day. Only pray that our courage 
and health may be spared, and that nothing may 
tempt us to swerve from the right. The burden of 
anxiety and care, of course, is heavy, — it could not 
be otherwise ; but down in the bottom of my heart is 
a clear conscience ; and this, with the good Lord's 
help, is sustaining me. 

Let the big boys read this letter, and I know they 
will feel we had better part with all our possessions 
than to lose honour and good name. I don't believe 
parents were ever blessed with boys whose sense of 
what is right is clearer than with ours. I want you 
all to be cheerful, and greet me every time I come 
with happy faces. I do feel just a little bit lonesome 
to-night, thinking of you all. 

To Harvey Edward Fisk. 

New York, June 12, 1874. 
... I am very well and in good spirits, notwith- 
standing the Chesapeake & Ohio matters don't im- 



182 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

prove any. The Directors are the meanest set of 
men I ever saw; but calling hard names won't better 
it any. If it goes all to pieces, we shall feel we have 
done our duty, and will go to work again as hard as 
ever. It is hard to see the work of a lifetime all in 
peril, but, with good name and honour left, we can all 
take hold, and, if life is spared, build up another 
structure that will stand. You don't half know what 
a dear, good, brave Mamma you have got ; she would 
cheerfully give up all for the right, if she thought I 
would be one bit happier, and 1 believe you boys all 
feel the same way ; and this is a great comfort. 
Things may brighten very much in a few days. We 
shall issue a circular to our creditors next week, that 
we are ready to pay the first instalment ; that will be 
a start, anyway. . . . 

To Charles J. Fish. 

New York, June 16. 1874. 

It seems such a short time since you were our 
" dear little puss," and now you are such a big boy, — 
almost a young man. It does your dear Papa and 
Mamma so much good to see you growing up so strong 
and manly, ever ready to take hold and help, and 
withal, as we believe, doing right for right's sake, and 
with a sincere desire to do your duty, whatever it 
may be. You are now laying the foundation for your 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 183 

whole future life ; good habits formed now will leave 
their impress forever. What is before you in this 
life none can tell. Your ways are in the Lord's 
hands ; only trust Him, in happiness or sorrow, in 
health or sickness, whatever your lot, — cling close to 
Him. Let your heart be always so full of noble 
desires that there will be no room for evil. Let your 
earnest prayer all the time be for the Lord to keep 
you when temptation comes, for it will and does come 
to us all ; but if at that moment we look up to Him, 
He gives us strength, and we are then safe indeed. 

You will find, dear Charlie, that this life is not a 
dream, but a stern reality. Let everything be real to 
you. Whatever you do, do it earnestly. Cultivate 
the habit you now have to a remarkable degree of 
doing what is to be done promptly and well ; also 
cultivate your judgment so as to act with discretion 
and directly to the point. Never do rash things ; 
remember that true courage is a very different thing. 
You have honour, truth, and right with you now ; keep 
them, cling to them, hold them so fast they will grow 
to you; circle them about you, wrap up in them. 
They will be your cloud by day, your pillar of fire by 
night, and with God's help you will run your race 
gloriously. They will crown your youth, your man- 
hood, your old age, and will be your eternal crown in 
the life to come. This is the daily prayer of your 
dear parents for you and all the rest of their dear 



184 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

children ; we care for this more than for wealth or 
any earthly honours. 

My heart has been with you a great deal to-day, 
and with all the dear ones at Riverside, and especially 
with your dear Mamma. My great happiness is in feel- 
ing that you all are making her happy, and that while 
I am away you are all striving which shall do the 
most for her. And those dear, sweet sisters, — how 
they love you all, and how you love them ! Is it any 
wonder, when I see such boys growing up with me to 
protect and cherish and love dear Mamma and the 
sisters, that I am happy ? 

Now, Charlie dear, good-night ; and as each birth- 
day comes may it show some new grace grown and 
developed, until that birthday when God takes you to 
Himself, and makes you perfect. . . . 

P. S. Tell Mamma it is so late I add this word 
for her. Nothing new in business matters. I am well 
and cheerful ; and while my body and mind are here, 
and constantly employed, my heart has nestled close 
to the dear home at Riverside, and I can't get it 
away. 

To Mrs. Harvey Fisk. 

New York, June 24, 1874. 
. . . We pay our first certificates to-day. We are 
working hard this week on the Chesapeake & Ohio ques- 
tion, but so far have not much progress to report. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 185 

Business is better, and now that Congress has ad- 
journed, we hope to do more, and make some money 
again. It has been slow business the last three 
months. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, June 24, 1874. 

I wrote you this morning, but thinking you might 
like to hear how the day has gone, and whether we 
have paid " all hands," I " again take up my pen to 
write a line ; " and I feel just like it, or more so. I 
feel just like seeing your dear face, and all the boys, 
and telling you that Papa thinks paying debts is just 
the sweetest business in the world — except not 
having any. A goodly percentage handed in their 
certificates for credit on account ; others grimly and 
joyfully took their money ; others did n't come at 
all ; and when the day ended, we had just as much 
in the bank as we started with ; and, besides, a big 
day's business, in addition, — a good move ahead in 
the Chesapeake & Ohio settlement. Therefore 1 am 
in good spirits, and for this evening, at least, feel just 
a little like the old " Fisk " of former times. 

The desire on my part to be able to pay every one 
their last dollar due with interest, amounts almost to 
an agony. I dream about it, and have such visions 
of the bliss of getting out of the snarl without tarnish, 
that the little bite of to-day's happiness almost makes 

24 



186 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

a big boy of me. I hope all the Lions in our path will 
prove to be stone ones when we reach them. To- 
morrow we open the second volume ; and may its 
ending, December 24th, be just as pleasant. So let 
us all take new courage, and, thanking the good 
Lord for all His goodness in the past, trust Him 
for the future. 

To Harvey Edward Fisk. 

New York, Sept. 10, 1874. 

You have been on my mind a great deal since you 
left us yesterday. It did seem so lonesome, and there 
was a sense of goneness all over Riverside. Your dear 
Mamma's heart went with her boy ; she was brave about 
it, but could hardly be comforted. Your cheery face, 
your dear little bouquets and kind attentions, were 
suddenly blotted out of her sick-room ; she does 
miss her Eddie boy very much. You have been a 
great help and comfort to us both this summer. You 
have shown good executive ability, you have been in 
the line of duty all summer, and have done your work 
cheerfully and well. Let it continue all through this 
college year. You went the first year with all your sen- 
tinels well posted ; you felt that going to a strange 
place you must be well guarded. Don't rely on your 
own strength, and call them in this second year ; rather, 
double them, — the dangers will increase, not diminish. 
Let the guards of honour, and truth, and industry, and 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 187 

love of home, and, above all, prayer, be on the alert. 
Don't risk your health and strength by late hours or 
needless exposure, or irregular, snatchy meals. You 
know your Papa's idea of a manly Christian man ; 
be that, and may the good Lord watch over and keep 
you. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, Sept. 18, 1874. 
. . . This is a day of great and peculiar tempta- 
tions ; it seems almost as if the great battle had 
begun. Christian men must put on the shield and 
buckler, and be ready for the fray. The cause of 
Christ is being assailed as never before. Science, 
witli all its specious arguments, is being arrayed 
against it; profound and educated reasoners are 
attempting with all the force of argument to prove 
it false ; Infidels, Universalists, Spiritualists, boldly, 
as never before, denying the great truths of the Bible. 
Great sins among those that profess His name are 
helping the devil in this his last great struggle ; 
scoffers are everywhere. Is not this the time, as 
never before, for Christian men to take their stand 
boldly ; if we are not for, we are against Him. Is 
it not passing strange that it requires more courage 
to array one's self under His banner than under 
the devil's ? On one side, all that is good ; on the 
other, all that is bad. In these days I read over 



188 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

with great comfort and very solemnly the Saviour's 
own words as recorded in Mark 13th. . . . 

To Mrs. Harvey Fisk. 

New York, Sept. 21, 1874. 
... I never felt so much like writing you a real, 
old-fashioned love-letter ; but how shall an old married 
man begin ? I know words of love are sweet to a 
good, loving wife ; but I can't be a boy again, and 
write a long string of them. I will only wish, so long 
as the good Lord may spare us to live together, 
tli at both by words and actions my life may be one 
long love-letter to you, dear wife. . . . 

To Harvey Edtvard Fisk. 

New York, Sept. 22, 1874. 
Your precious letter of the 20th inst. gave me 
great happiness. It has been the earnest, daily 
prayer of your dear parents that you and all of 
their dear children might become truly the chil- 
dren of God, and at the proper time come out 
before all men and acknowledge Him as their Lord 
and Saviour. 1 know just how you feel, — my heart 
goes out to you in great love and sympathy. I, too, 
went through the same experience ; but the same 
good Lord who has thus far led you on will give 
vou strength and courage. Cling to Him while He 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 189 

is so near. His love is great; He too has been a 
man like ourselves, and knows it all. Let your 
heart run out to Him like a river, and boldly take 
your stand on His side. In Him is strength, and 
life, and eternal happiness ; His arm is all power- 
ful. May He give you good clear judgment and 
courage. I can't write as I would like. My heart 
is full ; I would say just the right words to cheer 
you on your way. The 91st Psalm has been a 
great comfort to me all through the past year ; read 
it, — it was written for you now. I won't write any 
more this time. May your Heavenly Father guide you, 
and be with you and bless you. 

To the Same. 

New York, Sept. 29, 1874. 
What a precious day the last Sabbath was at 
Riverside, and how much we all had to be thankful 
for ! How beautifully motherly good, dear Mamma 
seemed, and was, and how rejoiced we all were to 
have her downstairs again ! Her happiness was very 
great, and I know her husband and dear children 
were full of love for her, and each vied with the 
other in loving attentions ; and may it ever be so. 
You added so much to her great happiness, and 
every step in your life from the cradle up was before 
her ; and when the glad tidings of great joy came 
fully to her, that her dear Eddie, her first born, had 



190 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

given his heart to God, her heart was full to over- 
flowing, and the glad tears would come. And with 
her your dear father rejoiced too, and their great 
love flowed out over all the rest of the dear children ; 
and now we know your prayers are joined with ours, 
that they may all be saved, and especially that the 
older ones may soon come out on the Lord's side. 
His promises are sure, and never fail ; let us all 
trust Him, and go to Him with all our wants. . . . 

Can you imagine a more blessed picture than your 
dear Mamma with baby sister Bertha in her lap, and 
May one side, and Edie the other ? God bless them 
and you, my dear boy, and all the rest. 

To Mrs. Harvey Fisk. 

New York, Sept. 28, 1874. 
Such a precious Sabbath day as yesterday I am 
sure does not often fall to the lot of men. Such a 
feeling of perfect love and trust from a dear wife, and 
so much happiness together as we had from the 
moment I arrived until I kissed you good-bye this 
early morning, cannot be expressed in words. T 
can think about it, and dream about it, and carry it 
with me as a talisman all through the week. You 
said, "Write me if you have time ;" it is my greatest 
pleasure, and always rests me after a hard day's 
work. For the moment I can forget all about 
Chesapeake & Ohio, and other bothersome matters, 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 191 

and think of the dear home circle. How my heart 
leaped for joy when you came downstairs yesterday, 
looking so well, happy, and beautifully good ! . . . 

I do get tired sometimes, and sick at heart, and 
then it seems so much easier to give up and let all 
go ; but it is n't manly or right. I ask God, as a 
child, to give me strength to hold out. It does seem 
good to pour out my soul to you, and why not? 
Could I want or have a better friend than a true 
wife ? 

To the Same. 

New York, Oct. 2, 1874. 
The suspension of Henry Clews & Co. is rumoured 
late this evening, and the consequence may be a rough 
time for us to-morrow ; but we shall stand it, and I 
only write to quiet your mind, in case you hear bad 
reports. Don't send John down unless I telegraph, 
as I may not be able to leave before the last train. I 
came home feeling almost worn down ; but the quiet 
evening has rested me, and the anticipation of a 
Sabbath with you, and resting in your great love gives 
me new life ; and until we meet, good-bye. 

To the Same. 

New York. Oct. 6, 1874. 
If you only knew how much your husband enjoyed 
being with you last Sabbath, and how happy you made 
him, and how his heart and thoughts are with you all 



192 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

the time, I know it would do you good. It is not be- 
cause I think you are not happy, that I refer to it so 
often ; but " out of the fulness of the heart the mouth 
speaketh." T know and believe you are a very happy 
wife and mother ; and it won't make you vain to tell 
you you are a good wife, and make your husband very 
happy also. If my letters are very lover-like, it is 
because my talking for the whole week is concentrated 
to an hour or two of letter writing ; and my mind at 
once is carried to Riverside. I long to see and be with 
you, — everything there is so vivid. What a dear 
home it is, and how much we have to thank the good 
Lord for! 

When we stood together, last Sabbath evening, and 
looked down on the graves of our dear little ones, and 
our thoughts were of them, and the dear ones still 
spared to us, our hearts came very close together ; and 
when I put my arm around you, it was because I was 
thanking the Lord that your dear life had been spared 
to me and to your loving children. . . . 

To Harvey Edward Fisk. 

New York, Oct. 8, 1874. 
I spent sometime at the new church yesterday 
morning, and found they were making rapid progress. 
The lecture-room floor is laid, and also the Sunday- 
school room, and both nearly ready for the plasterers, 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 193 

as are also the trustees' room and the minister's study. 
The ceiling of auditorium will be completed in about 
three weeks. I climbed up to the top of it, and then 
down on to the scaffolding, where I could look up at 
it; the curve is well done, and is beautiful. . . . 

We are making great progress with Chesapeake & 
Ohio matters, and are very hopeful ; still not out of the 
woods. Our plan for settling with our old depositors 
is received with great favour, and I think will prove 
a complete success. We have already commenced 
to put it into execution, with a slight modification. 

The failure of H. Clews & Co. caused no alarm, 
and we lost no depositors, but rather gained. If we 
are entirely successful in our efforts to re-establish 
the credit of the Chesapeake & Ohio, we shall be on a 
comparatively firm footing again, and can then go 
forward with our business with confidence, and I 
trust with something of our old success. . . . 



To the Same. 

New York, Oct. 13, 1874. 
I sent you yesterday by mail a copy of " Transit of 
Venus," which you will find of interest. It is well 
to keep posted on all the great topics of the day, 
especially those that relate to the good and welfare 
of mankind. I am glad you are pursuing a general 
course of reading, and I need not tell you to read 

25 



194 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

with a desire of learning, rather than with the simple 
idea of getting over as much ground as possible, so as 
to be able to say you have read this and that. Good 
and bad habits in reading are easily formed and hard to 
break. It is a good plan to have some general system, 
— say, in the morning, historical; in the evening, 
topics of the day, literature, etc.; and for the Sabbath, 
such books as appertain to the history of religion, the 
Church, and to the study of the Bible ; dig out its 
riches, go deep down and find its pearls and diamonds, 
be so thoroughly "up " yourself in its truths that the 
devil's arguments can always be turned by " Thus 
saith the Lord." 

It would be well, in this connection, to post yourself 
as to the grounds of belief and differences of the 
great religious divisions of the world, — Protestantism, 
Roman Catholicism, Mohammedanism, and especially 
the history of the Jews, which begins with the Bible 
and will end with the second coming of Christ. In 
your secular daily historical reading it would be well, 
first, to become well posted in the outline of history, and 
then fill up by distinct short histories of each epoch and 
country, and by this time you will be ready for the great 
historians, and will enjoy what now seems so long- 
winded and formidable. As to the " topics of the day, 
literature, etc.," your own taste and good judgment will 
guide you in making proper selections. Always go for 
the meat inside the kernel, and let those who expect life 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 195 

will never end stand gazing at the shuck, from its 
formation making up their minds as to what is inside. 
Reading much may lead you into many arguments, 
and in such cases always take the side of right and 
truth and justice ; it is sometimes the weaker side for 
argument, but always the stronger side for heart and 
conscience. The devil goes for a young man as 
soon as he sees he is afraid of ridicule, or is always 
on the stronger side without regard to which is 
right. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, Nov. 2, 1874. 

... I cannot realise it was only one short year 
since the clouds were so black and heavy. 

They have not all gone yet, and may settle down 
again before another year comes around ; but the fact 
remains that ever there is a bright clear sky behind 
the blackest clouds. If one can have patience to wait 
and will to endure, he will surely see them roll away. 

We, as you will notice by the papers, are stirring 
up our regular business, and it begins to tell ; we are 
sending out about 7000 cards such as I sent you, and 
are bound to let the community know we are alive 
and able to kick if need be. I have gained largely in 
experience and hardness the past year; have found 
that the bugbears of the future are almost always 
very small animals when we get up to them. . . . 



196 LETTERS OE HARVEY FISK. 

To the Same. 

New York, Nov. 10, 1874. 

... I did think of surprising you Election Day ; 
but, as I wrote, it seemed duty to take part of 
the day at the new church. We are trying to hurry 
it up so as to be in by April, as the people are begin- 
ning to grumble, and especially those that take the 
least interest. . . . 

It does seem as if six months more ought to com- 
plete the church, but vexatious delays will creep in 
all the time. Shall be glad when you can look it over. 
I think the inside painting of ceiling and walls is going 
to be a great success. Our old church is more 
crowded than ever. Won't it be a glorious sight to 
see the new church filled with people, hungry for the 
gospel! I hope we all can be there the first sermon, 
and hear the verdict of the people on the Building 
Committee. 

I am very busy at the office. Business has increased 
wonderfully the last two weeks, and, with us, quite 
profitable. Government bonds are very active, and our 
advertising is telling. ^The result of the elections has 
been favourable for all kinds of business. The sweep- 
ing defeat of the Republican party was all for the best ; 
the country was tired out, and needed a change. Men 
in places and power were becoming arrogant and bold ; 
so the people rose in their might, and put them down, 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 197 

not the principles of the Republican party. The 
country will be ruled by the Democrats for some 
years to come. . . . 

To Mrs. Joel Fish. 

New York, Nov. 26, 1874. 

Your good long letter of the 8th inst. was a real 
pleasure, and I have intended ever since to write you 
again, not exactly in answer, but because it left such 
an impress on my mind of my mother that I have 
thought of her perhaps more than usual, and to-day 
especially. This day of thanksgiving, while I have 
been so happy with all my dear children around me, 
my heart has gone up in thankfulness that my dear 
mother was so good and so well, and that her life and 
health had been preserved through another year. 

It is very easy for us children to honour our parents 
when the Lord gave us such good ones ; it almost 
seems as if His command, " Honour your parents," 
etc., was intended only for children that had very 
poor parents, — for how could we help it ? 

I have thought of Father a great deal lately ; it 
seems as if he was with us again, and very near to 
us. I am very glad he is sleeping so near our dear 
children ; it must be a comfort to you. 

We have had a very happy day together. Dr. Hall's 
sermon was a feast in itself. His text was Lamenta- 
tions iii. 22 ; the house was crowded. After church, 



198 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

we went up and spent an hour looking over the new 
church, which is getting along towards completion 
very rapidly, and will be done about April 1st. 

Eddie is home with us until Monday morning. He 's 
a good boy and no mistake. Charlie and Pliny and 
Akey are doing splendidly in Charlier's school. I 
enclose the outlines of a course of lectures that they 
have once a week. That we were led to make the 
change has been another great cause of thankfulness 
to us. The dear little ones and baby are well. 

I am very busy, but keep well and strong and in 
good heart, and, while trusting the Lord, work hard 
to show that I mean it. Our affairs are looking better 
every day, but we have long, hard, trying work ahead 
of us. We have been wonderfully sustained. I read 
the 23d Psalm this morning, and u He leadeth me " 
has been the burden of a glad song all the day. 
Whatever comes during the year and all the years, 
may we feel it is so. 

To Harvey Edward Fish. 

New York, Dec. 8, 1874. 

... Of course we are anxious for the future, and 
especially for the balance of this year. Our payments 
are heavy, but I think we shall come out all right. 
We have been much disappointed in many ways ; 
business all the year has been small, and not having 
received one cent of the vast amount due us from the 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 199 

Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad makes our load heavy to 
bear. But good health and courage will accomplish 
much. The President's message and the Secretary's 
report, as far as regards the finances, have created 
some disturbance ; but it will soon be over, as their 
suggestions are very weak and impracticable. The 
only sure way to return to specie payments is for the 
Government to hoard up their gold until they have 
about $200,000,000 ahead, and then they can call in 
the greenbacks safely. To repeal the legal tender act 
before they can redeem their notes in gold, would be 
madness ; to fix a day to return to specie payments 
without providing the cash in hand to do so, is sheer 
nonsense. I do hope Congress will let the whole 
matter rest for this winter at least. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, Dec. 13, 1874. 
It is just the time on Sabbath evening when I 
long for Eddie to be here to give me some good old 
hymns on the organ, between afternoon church and 
supper- time; and especially so now, as we have just 
returned from Communion. ... Grandma has had a 
happy day, — can see it all over her face. She was out 
this morning as well. You will remember this is the 
anniversary of the marriage of your dear parents, — 
how fast the years have gone ! Twenty-one have 
flown away since that time, and how good the Lord 



200 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

has been to us ! He has given us love and happiness, 
and children, and home, and abundance, and even in 
the sore afflictions of the past year have we not cause 
for thankfulness ? We have been sustained, as a 
family we have been drawn closer to each other ; and 
although we know not what is in the future, we can 
trust the same hand that has led us thus far. 

My heart has been very full to-day on many 
accounts. We at last see our way clear over the 
dreaded 24th of December, and when you get home, 
your Mamma will tell you from what source the needed 
relief came. She will tell it to you with a bright, 
happy face ; she will tell it to you the more readily 
as she knows you will also think with her that there 
is something more to be lived for than great riches, — 
" a good name is more to be desired than great 
riches. " She will tell ifc to you as only such a good 
mother as you have got, can. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, Jan. 29, 1875. 
... I have been very busy all this week. The 
circular stirred up a rush of business. We have been 
full of country bank-officers ; they all think the cir- 
cular was a great strike. Our government bond busi- 
ness has been very heavy all the week. We are work- 
ing up another raid on the Chesapeake & Ohio bond- 
holders and creditors, and shall go for them with a 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 201 

vengeance, and we hope for great things ; will send 
you a gun whenever loaded and ready to fire. The 
specie payment bill is about forgotten, and gold is 
moving up under the heavy exportations to pay our 
debts abroad. The country is all right, and will work 
its way out if they will only stop tinkering with the 
finances. . . . 

The boys are doing splendidly in scjiool ; this week 
Akey's book foots up 270, and it made his big eyes 
sparkle. . . . 

To the Same. 
7 E. 38th St., New York, Feb. 7, 1875. 
... I was very much struck in reading recently 
that the Scriptures, or parts of them, were now printed 
in two hundred and fifty of the three hundred known 
dialects in the world. Is this accidental ? Did it just 
happen ? What other book except this Word of Grod 
is published or printed in ten languages ? How few 
get beyond two or three ! How many that are in 
every household ; how many that are a hundred years 
old, or fifty, or twenty, or ten, or at all noticed except 
by a very few ? The Bible has outlived all persecu- 
tion, attempts have been made to destroy every copy, 
people have been put to death for having it in their 
houses, all the powers of evil have been arrayed 
against it ; it is surely the living word out of the 
mouth of God. . . . 

26 



202 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To the Same. 

New York, Feb. 14, 1875. 

I came home last evening as near tired out as 
could be, disgusted with Chesapeake & Ohio and all 
connected with it. . . . 

I am well, and generally in good spirits, only 
sometimes, in the darkness of the night, the mountain 
gets very high and broad and steep ; but when day- 
light comes, I do hear the birds singing, the path 
ahead is easier to climb, there are quiet little nooks 
to rest in along the way, and it 's only w T hen I look 
back down the mountain, at the terrible dangers that 
I've passed in safety, that I shudder. It's much 
better to be struck down on the front line with armour 
on, doing the best you can, than to skulk to the rear, 
and be devoured by the wolves. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, March 4, 1875. 
. . . Chesapeake & Ohio matters are bad enough, 
and that daylight ahead is a long time coming. Mr. 
Hatch and Uncle Pliny are now in Richmond, look- 
ing thoroughly into the whole matter, and on their 
report will depend, to some extent, our action. The 
situation briefly is this : the long delay in re-arran- 
ging the affairs of the company, together with the 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 203 

total apathy and inaction of the President and Direc- 
tors of the Company, is having its natural effect on 
the bondholders and creditors, and some of them are 
getting restless. Then the old Virginia Central 
Railroad bondholders are threatening legal proceed- 
ings ; and with all this, the Ohio River is frozen up, 
making the earnings so small that the road has not 
been able to pay its hands. When General Wickham 
wrote President Huntington last week that he must 
have $100,000 to tide over matters till Spring business 
opened, the whole of which he could repay in a short 
time, they one and all lay right down like men, and 
swore solemn oaths, no, sir, nothing, " with several 
millions of our own money to be saved, with widows 
and orphans on every corner who have trusted our 
great names, our highly honoured respected names, 
we will bury honour and manhood and courage, and 
let the thing die ; we are great losers ourselves (but 
can stand it), nobody can blame us." And so the 
ship drifted, drifted, until it got among the breakers 
in the shape of an advertisement in a Richmond paper, 
that the portion covered by the old Virginia Central 
mortgage would be sold at auction May 3d. This 
startling announcement called them all together last 
Monday, and they decided, without further delay, if 
any of them had spunk enough to proceed, to put the 
road in the hands of a receiver, and " that immediately, 
sir ; the danger is terrible ; we shall be crashing on 



204 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

the rocks before breakfast to-morrow morning." But 
(there 's always a " but ") when they found they 
would have to sign a bond of indemnity to protect the 
receiver, they immediately took their hats and de- 
parted, wringing their hands, and crying out, " We 
cannot save the road without using a little money, 
we cannot ruin the road without using a little money, 
— what shall we do ? " They were in the position of a 
countryman who came to Wall Street, and, after losing 
all his money, concluded he was neither a bull nor a 
bear, but a jackass. 

We (F. & H.) have fought off this movement inch 
by inch, the immediate trouble in Richmond has been 
quieted, and unless some new danger arises, we may 
succeed. If worst comes to worst, we shall try to 
throw the road into the hands of the trustees of the 
second mortgage, who are our friends, Messrs. Cal- 
houn and Kitchen ; this will take the property entirely 
out of the hands of the present people, and leave us 
still a chance to save it. But, to a certain extent, it 
would be looked on as bad, and so we shall work hard 
to keep it as it is. So much for Chesapeake & Ohio, 
and long may it wave over the free and brave 
managers. 

Business is fair, but the times are much mixed. 
You must not get restless ; you are in the line of 
duty, and are fitting yourself for hard work in the 
future, and I am happier to feel you are where you 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 205 

are than if you were compelled to leave and go to 
work. . . . 

Look out for the biggest kind of a freshet in the 
Delaware very soon. I wish we could be there for 
the next few weeks ; the roar and crush and anger of 
a big flood would just express my feelings at times 
lately. . . . 

To the Same. 

7 East 38th St., N. Y., March 25, 1875. 
To-morrow you will be nineteen years old. How 
fast the years go by, and how well I remember the 
happy morning you were years old, — just a little 
bit of a mite that made two loving ones so happy ; 
and as they clasped hands over your dear little 
body, they both thanked God, and asked Him to 
bless you, and that they might be able to train up 
their first-born to do good in this world. . . . And 
now you are almost a man. Our baby, our boy, has 
gone ; oar companion, our Eddie, our son, our eldest, 
still, — and now, as you take one more step in life, 
your foot comes down firm with the thoughts of a 
man. You are looking to the future. What it has 
in store for you we cannot tell ; but this is sure, — 
your dear parents give you their blessing ; they wish 
you peace and prosperity, they wish you joy and hap- 
piness, they wish that God may be with you all the 



206 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

days of your life, they wish to meet you and all their 
dear children in the future heavenly home. May He 
guide and bless and keep you ever. 

To the Same. 
New York, Sabbath Evening, June 20, 1875. 

. . . Friday evening we all went to Charlier's 
closing exercises, and were well paid. The chapel 
was packed full ; the addresses, etc., were excellent. 
Near the close Mr. Charlier distributed the " Excelsior 
Prizes." These are prizes for general good conduct, 
good lessons, promptness, etc. ; and we, Papa and 
Mamma, concluded we had some more grand children, 
as they all were on the list. Akey has mailed you 
the list of prizes; he was full — full. He also got a 
prize for first in arithmetic. Charlie and Pliny lost 
their chance for examination prizes on account of 
their absence. 

And so, thanks to Mamma's " drumming," I am to 
have a vacation and a trip. I feel like a bird. Our 
plan is to leave Tuesday, on 11 a. m. train, for Saratoga, 
stop at the Grand Union, drink water, and have a good 
time till you arrive, although we may possibly decide 
to go to Lake George on Saturday, and have you 
come there ; but if you don't hear from us, come 
directly to the Grand Union ; after your arrival we 
will decide on further arrangements. . . . 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 207 

To Mrs. Harvey Fish. 

New York, July 19, 1875. 
1 arrived on time this morning, and have felt well 
all day. . . . Business has been brisk, but in a very 
discouraging way, — another heavy fall in gold and 
governments, and no outlook of a recovery. I ought 
to have stayed at home ; and the more I think of it, 
the more 1 feel it was a wrong step ; the costs may 
be very serious, but we will hope and pray this will 
prove for our good in the end. Oar deposits are 
running down again very fast. The affairs of the 
Chesapeake & Ohio do not improve the slightest. 
Terrible floods have closed up the western end, and 
generally dark clouds are gathering. I have got a 
slight touch of the blues to-night, but the bright 
morning will dispel them. At the office I am cheerful 
as can be. Fred will be gone some time. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, July 27, 1875. 
As you can well imagine, we have had a rough 
time to-day, owing to the suspension of our great 
neighbours, Duncan, Sherman, & Co. For a few hours 
it did seem as if the Old Nick and all his children were 
let loose in Wall Street, rushing, running, crowding, 
yelling, stocks tumbling one per cent a minute, for- 
eign exchange totally unsalable, gold rushing up in 



208 LETTERS OF HARVEY EISK. 

the gold room to 117. Our office was full of bank 
officers, brokers, Dutchmen, newspaper men, and 
curiosity people to see how Fisk & Hatch stood it. 
I went right along as coolly as if nothing was the 
matter, bought and sold a great lot of government 
bonds, calmed every one I could, whistled to myself 
" There is a happy land," and closed up the day with 
governments half to one per cent higher than last 
night, and gold two per cent higher. But the cool- 
ness was only on the surface. 1 was terribly anxious 
inside ; for if the panic had extended to the banks 
and among our depositors, and they had swooped 
down on us all in a heap, we should then have very 
soon looked like a potato field after the bugs had 
been at it. I sha'n't trouble myself one bit about 
to-morrow; it's going to be rough, I presume, and for 
some time to come. I can only promise to do the 
best I know how, work with all my might, and leave 
the result in the Lord's hands. 

Give love and kisses to all the dear children. I 
am very well, sleep well and eat well, but wish it was 
Saturday again. 

To Harvey Edward Fisk. 

New York, Aug. 2, 1875. 
. . . Read up your orchard book, and decide what 
we shall do, — whether clover or what. Decide on 
some plan for draining and keeping dry the barnyard. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 209 

If it will do, why shouldn't we have the wheat and 
oats all thrashed out this month, while we have a 
full force of men and teams ? Talk this branch over 
with Charlie. . . . 

Inspire all the boys to be doing and suggesting 
something whereby during this month all plans can 
be made and everything be gotten into shape so that a 
very small force can keep everything going during the 
winter. And as for you, my dear big boy, I want you 
to work with a cheerful heart, and be ready to take 
up your duties in Princeton in due season, feeling 
that that is the clear path of duty, and that your dear 
Papa will feel it his duty to let you know at once 
when he wants you to go to work for yourself because 
he cannot afford to keep you going. I have visions 
in the dim distance of a model banking-house ; and it 
will be highly important for at least one of the firm 
to have a liberal education. But whatever my boys 
come to, and wherever in God's providence they may 
be placed in this life, my heart's desire is that they 
shall be manly, Christian men, doing whatever they 
have to do with all their might ; and in this your 
dear Mamma joins with all her heart. . . . 

To Mrs. Harvey Fink. 

New York, Aug. 5, 1875. 
Perhaps you may think I am in the position of 
the love-sick swain writing to his sweetheart, " Dear- 

27 



^ 



210 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

est Susannah, having nothing better to do, I set 
down to drop you a few lines," — and to a certain 
extent I am. It is very lonesome to-night, and I 
would give almost anything to see you and the dear 
children. Saturday seems a long way off; if it only 
came twice a week, how welcome it would be ! 

Things have gone on smoothly with us to-day ; 
bonds firm and higher, and good business. Gold 
advanced about three-eighths per cent, and money on 
governments easy at one to two per cent per annum. 
We have had some large transactions, about one 
Choctaw in all, and at the close we had a surplus of 
nearly two Emilies. This is the solid business side, 
and now for the romance. But before I unfold the 
tale, you and Eddie must promise not even to say, 
" Pshaw ! " so here goes. 

Scene, Wall Street, 2 p. m. to-day. It was a dark, 
dismal afternoon, — clouds and rain, thunder and 
lightning, sunshine and umbrellas, terribly mixed ; 
men were rushing to and fro — No, this won't do ; 
I can't write a novel, and so will begin again. In the 
words of the Psalmist, " Better is a little — " No, 
this won't do, for you may think I am going to give 
the whole chapter, " contentious woman " and all. So 
for a fresh start. " A wise son maketh a glad father ; " 
that 's so — sometimes — but that 's nothing to do 
with the romance. The fact is, I was considerably 
riled up, and am trying to cool off ; so, dropping all 



LETTERS OE HARVEY FISK. 211 

fun and poor jokes, will tell you the story in plain 
English if I can. 

About two o'clock a stockbroker came in and said 
there was considerable talk on the Exchange about a 
prominent banking-house ; pretty soon others came 
in, and all looked curious, and many asked if we 
believed the reports. Soon stocks began to fall, 
money advanced to five per cent, and an excitement 
started in the gold room. Mr. Phipard came up in 
great haste, and, taking me one side, said it was a 
delicate thing to talk about, but it was Fisk & 
Hatch that were said to be in trouble, and so many 
had been to him with the story that he came up to 
see what was the matter, and desired my authority to 
contradict it. I told him I wouldn't go across the 
street to contradict such a ridiculous story, — had 
other business to attend to. The uneasiness and 
talk continued till long after three o'clock. Probably 
some scamp started the story for stock-jobbing pur- 
poses, knowing the community were ready to believe 
almost anything after Duncan, Sherman & Co.'s 
failure. We shall survive all this and a great deal 
more. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, Aug. 12, 1875. 

. . . We have had a great deal of happiness since 
our lives ran into one, and even now in one sense 



212 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

we were never happier together and with our dear 
children. The dark business clouds will all lift in 
time. It may be the tempest and storm has not 
passed over us yet, and that all we have will be 
swept away by the flood ; but the sky and air will 
be clearer and purer after it is all over. The Lord 
knows best what is for our eternal good. I can't 
realise my own feelings lately, I feel so solemn all 
the time ; it may be dull despair, it may be I am get- 
ting callous and hardened to the situation. I hope 
it is trust in the Lord that I pray for so earnestly 
every day. I rarely ever feel tired, don't want to 
leave the office when the day is over ; it seems as if 
I could stay night and day if that of itself would 
save the name of Fisk & Hatch. When I come out 
Saturday evening, we will have a good talk ; that 
does me so much good. I am well and strong, slept 
splendidly last night. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, Sept. 1, 1875. 

... I do want so much to spend the few last days 
with you at Riverside, and have perfect peace and 
rest before commencing the fall and winter cam- 
paign ; still I now feel well and strong, and able to 
stand lots of hard work. Our figures for last month 
were very satisfactory, profits about thirty-five thou- 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 213 

sand, a little over one third of the losses last month. 
Own up that it was a very expensive trip. . . . 

I think your arrangements at Riverside are capital. 
This much praise to a good wife will not spoil her. 
I do want to see you to-night very much. I have 
thought about you all day, and was strongly tempted to 
come out this evening ; but I could not leave without 
leaving duties undone, and so I swallowed the disap- 
pointment and came to No. 38. All the evening I 
have wished you were with me. . . . 

To Harvey Edward Fisk. 

New York, Oct. 3, 1875. 
... I keep well, but am very busy, with all things 
coming in a heap ; as soon as the plans are perfected 
for reorganising the Chesapeake & Ohio, I will send you 
a copy. The plan I drew up will probably be adopted, 
with some slight changes. I have been busy draw- 
ing up a plan to enable F. & H. to meet the changes 
necessary in their affairs, and I think I have at last 
struck the right one, after drawing up and abandon- 
ing several ; as soon as we decide, I will also send 
you this. If we cannot get our creditors to give us 
the time and terms we think we need and ought to 
have, we shall offer to divide among them all we have, 
and abide the result. Mamma approves decidedly 
of this decision. I think they will grant almost any- 
thing rather than lose our services ; but, to use one 



214 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

of Charlie's phrases, it is " awfully," " fearfully " 
mortifying to ask any more favours. The only com- 
fort is that duty is almost always hard to do. Our 
duty is to fight to the last to save our property, and 
pay all we owe, dollar for dollar. If they won't let 
us, we shall have a clear conscience and will begin 
over again. We have done wonders since we re- 
sumed, having paid off or settled in full, including 
interest, nearly 11,800,000 ; but our available re- 
sources are about exhausted, and we still owe nearly 
12,500,000 dollars, with $5,500,000 Chesapeake & Ohio 
bonds, and a splendid business to pay it with. It is a 
foregone conclusion that they will never pay us a dollar 
in money, and so we have got to make the bonds 
good if possible. If my plan is adopted, and they 
can have five years undisturbed, think they will come 
out all right. You must be very cheerful, and so 
must all ; this will help me more than anything 
else. . . . 

I have just read this letter to Mamma and the big 
boys, and I told them (i. e. the boys) that there were 
very few boys nowadays that it would do to trust 
with the secrets of a big banking-house. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, Nov. 14, 1875. 
... It makes us happy that you are enjoying so 
much these last years of your collegiate life, and still 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 215 

more so that you are getting something more precious 
than riches to take with you all your life. You do 
well to cultivate and become acquainted with the very 
best writers. It would be well occasionally to read 
the biography of some of the good and great men that 
have gone to their rest. In these latter days, books 
for number are like the pebbles on the river's bank, 
and the great bulk of them of just as much value. 
It is the diamonds which are so rare among the 
pebbles, and which are of such great value as to be 
eagerly picked up and prized when found. 

I have been home all day, and feel well rested to- 
night. It tires me so to think of going before our 
creditors again (pah !) for more favours ; I never 
realised I was so proud as I have during the past 
few weeks. Every breath I draw, every step I take, 
every mouthful I eat, every thought of my mind, — all, 
all, everything — air, earth, and water — is full of dis- 
gust at the thought ; but duty and manliness require 
it to be done. We shall commence the funeral ser- 
vices by sending a circular to our depositors. You 
will receive one. The first hymn will be accom- 
panied by a full chorus, i. e., the depositors ; we are 
all ready for them. The second hymn will be a solo 
by the head of the firm, especially dedicated to " our 
creditors holding Chesapeake & Ohio bonds as collat- 
erals," — words, " Come, ye disconsolate." During the 
singing of this hymn, the audience are especially re- 



216 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

quested not to applaud. The sermon will be preached 
by the Rev. Dr. Hatch, of Water Street, from the text, 
" Knowledge is better than riches." His great elo- 
quence will no doubt convince the audience, before 
he takes up the collection, that he has much of the 
one and little of the other. The services will close 
with the singing of that beautiful hymn, " A few 
more years shall roll," the audience rising and join- 
ing heartily ; after which they will disperse slowly 
and solemnly, the organist meanwhile playing the 
" Portuguese Hymn." 
That 's how I feel. 

To the Same. 

New York, Dec. 2, 1875. 
No doubt you are anxious to hear how we are get- 
ting along in our matters. I have been busy literally 
day and night. We have seen all our creditors but 
four, and so far have met with nothing but kindness. 
Such perfect confidence as is manifested in our in- 
tegrity, so many expressions that we are doing all 
and more than we can or ought to do, is very grate- 
ful just now. As most of them are corporations, of 
course we must await the verdict of the various Boards 
of Directors. We hope to reach all the balance to- 
morrow, and in a few days will begin to receive positive 
answers. Certainly I never before fully realised the 
benefits of a " good name." My heart gets very 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 217 

full at times. If we can only be spared and pros- 
pered to pay all our debts in full, it will be happiness 
enough, even if we have nothing left. In addition to 
our own matters, it has become a duty, on account of 
the action of Peterhouse, Post, & Co., to take up and 
complete a plan, honest and true, to reorganise the 
Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. We worked at it almost 
all night (1 to 2 A. M.), and were here at the office 
at eight this morning. Will send you a copy as soon 
as prepared, and by this mail a copy of their cut- 
throat " scheme or plan," as they call it. . . . 

To Harvey Edward Fish and Pliny Fish. 

New York, Jan. 18, 1876. 

If thinking about you, talking about you, and pray- 
ing and wishing for your good and welfare were all 
that is necessary to make you the happiest and best 
boys in the land, you may be sure such would be the 
result ; for are you not on our minds all the time, 
and every morning and night do we not pray that 
God may watch over and bless and keep Eddie and 
Pliny, who are at Princeton, and that He may help 
them in their studies, give them good judgment in 
guiding all their affairs, keep them when temptations 
come near, as they surely will, and give them strength 
to perform all their duties well ? This we do with all 
our hearts, and with great love for our absent boys. 

28 



218 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

Our confidence in you both is very great, and we 
know that there will be no lack of earnestness on 
your part. 

This is the day and the time for earnest men. We 
must be up and diligent and enthusiastic in all we do, 
or the whirl and rush of this active age will crush us 
off the track. If your lives are spared, you will soon 
have to take your places in the most active thinking 
times the world has ever seen ; then the habits you 
are now forming will tell. We want our boys to 
become earnest, active, manly Christian men, and so 
live all their lives that when death comes, and they 
appear before their Lord and Master, they will be 
prepared to take a high stand in the duties of their 
eternal home. I never suppose for one moment that 
our happiness in the great future is to come from 
eternal laziness ; no, just as here, work well done, 
duties well performed, will bring their reward. I 
often wish I could talk and preach and write all I 
feel and just as I feel. Life has always been so 
earnest and real to me, — there 's never been much 
romance in it. My dear, good wife and children are 
realities ; my work is real ; right and wrong are real ; 
God is real ; the Bible and all its truths are real, — 
every word in it is real, — its promises, exhortations, 
warnings, pleadings, all are so real. " Thus saith the 
Lord" from my youngest days was always enough. I 
never question, I never argue against it ; my faith is 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 219 

strong, and, being strong, I know full well that " faith 
without works is vain." An army before their enemy 
with their hands clasped and eyes up to heaven, pray- 
ing with all the faith they can command for victory, 
won't give it unless they up and work and strive and 
fight for it. Kneeling before sin or a mad dog, and 
praying with your eyes shut, is bad business. No, 
pray with all your might, and at the same time kick 
it over, or, if too big for you, turn and run away from 
it. Faith and works, energy and perseverance, will 
carry you through. You will both by this time ex- 
claim, " What a long sermon Papa is writing ! " and 
so I will come down to other matters. 

First, — home. We are all well as usual. Charlie 
and Akey have gone to Charlier's evening lecture, 
Mamma has gone upstairs with Wilbur, the daughters 
are all asleep. Aunt Mary is quite sick, but better 
this evening. Charlie has not decided on a tutor as 
yet. He is very anxious to enter the School of Mines 
this fall : I do hope his eyes will hold out. He is 
very earnest these days. . . . 

Second, — business. It is very heavy, and fairly 
profitable. Our deposits of the right kind are steadily 
increasing ; we hope very much to be able to pay a 
dividend on our "dead horse" before long. The 
Chesapeake & Ohio matter we expect will be settled 
in Baltimore to-morrow. The whole string of counsel 
went over there this evening ; I will send you result. 



220 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

The bondholders are coming in slowly. It requires 
lots of " faith and works " to keep up good courage 
in C. & 0. . . . 

To Harvey Edward FisJc. 

New York, March 28, 1876. 

I can hardly realise that you are twenty years old. 
It seems so short a time since I was seventeen, eight- 
een, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, and it will be so 
short a time when you will all be " digging " away in 
your callings. I believe it is getting to be more curi- 
osity than anxiety with me, as to what my boys are 
going to become in the " great future." 

Mr. Rees called, and the evening has passed very 
pleasantly talking with him. He is thoroughly well 
posted, and a very genial man ; I think you would 
like him very much. He says Charlie is doing very 
well, and will have a good preparation. Well, you 
boys are all becoming educated, and if you live to 
the proverbial " threescore and ten," it will be still 
becoming ; and when the end comes, and the portals 
open into' the next world, and we enter God's school, 
then we shall know how little we know. And there, 
where death is dead, where life is forever and ever, 
there will be no stop ; but ever increasing knowledge 
to those that desire, and their experience leading up 
higher. There may be vast worlds where God in- 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 221 

tends to put His best men, as rulers and educators, 
giving unto them great honours and power. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, Oct. 2, 1876. 

. . . Charlie is in good spirits over his first day at 
the School of Mines. He was admitted all right to 
the second } r ear ; it will be a few days before he will 
have much hard work. . . . 

What a splendid time we all had together at River- 
side yesterday ! I do wish we could all meet there 
every evening. It is growing into our hearts very 
fast. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, Dec. 3, 1876. 
I write just a confidential line for you, to say that 
things in Wall Street don't look well ; but don't worry 
yourself a moment about me. . . . The long-con- 
tinued wrangle over the Presidency is surely having 
a bad effect on public confidence, and so between (1) 
a steady decline in Government bonds, (2) a calling 
up of heavy margins, and (3) a steady loss of deposi- 
tors, we are getting very poor. Now I want you to 
keep up good spirits, and remember that even, if worst 
comes to worst, you are to finish your senior year, 
and then turn in and help. We have been fighting 
every inch of ground these last three years, and sha'n't 



222 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

give up until we get such a whack on the head 
that we shall go flat on our noses and cau't even 
kick. . . . 

To the Same. 

New York, Feb. 1, 1877. 
. . . Have had a hard tussle the last few days, 
but hope for the best. Left the house this morn- 
ing at 8.15, returned this evening at 9.45. Mamma 
is splendid, babies all well. Charlie is not to be 
touched with a forty -foot pole, — drew his first salary 
to-day ; thinks of buying a first-class orchestra seat 
in the church. He is doing just as Mamma and I 
believe all our boys will when they commence life's 
work, — his whole duty earnestly, and the best he 
knows how. . . . 

To Mrs. Joel Fish. 

Wednesday, June 20, 1877. 

To-morrow, if I remember aright, is your seventy- 
fourth birthday, and I would send love and greetings 
and thankfulness that your life has been spared to 
us for another year. 

I would like to be with you for the day, but cannot, 
as I am all alone in the office, and so you must imagine 
I am there. I send the enclosed and lots of love as 
my birthday remembrances. 



LETTERS OE HARVEY EISK. 223 

To Mrs. Jonathan Fisk. 

Riverside, May 18, 1878. 

. . . The boys walked to the Water Gap, and have 
telegraphed for Mamma and Lillie to come up and stay 
with them a few days, which they propose to do Mon- 
day morning, health and weather permitting. . . . 

They walked to Point Pleasant the first day, and to 
Easton the second, reaching the Water Gap on the 
evening of the third day, — a distance of seventy 
miles ; and from there they telegraphed for their 
trunk with clothes. They were well and in good 
spirits. The babies are all well and happy, and are 
getting brown as nuts. Pliny is home to-night, and 
the " old man " is as usual, always in a cheerful frame 
of mind, full of work and care, but never much cast 
down. What is, will be ; " what cannot be cured, must 
be endured." Sixty miles to business, handling mil- 
lions each day, from long habit deciding matters 
of great moment all day long on the instant; sixty 
miles home again, quiet evenings, good rest, and 
then all over again, until at last the machine will wear 
out, and then perhaps — who knows ? — to be taken 
where all the experience here is fitting him for a 
grander, nobler sphere of usefulness in the great city 
of our Lord. I have no thought that the eternal 
future is to be a life of idleness, no expectations that 
the new life is to be something strange and awfully 
grand. This life is the mystery. . . . 



224 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To the Same. 

Riverside, Nov. 5, 1878. 
Mamma and baby [Evelyn] are doing first-rate, and 
both send love and kisses for the letters so full of 
loving remembrance, and hope it won't be long before 
their great-hearted Auntie can come up and see them. 
It would do you good to see how the big boys have 
taken this little one into their hearts, and to witness 
their tender love towards Mamma and baby. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Edward Fisk. 

Riverside, Sept. 26, 1879. 
My dear Children Edward and Mary, — You will 
read this letter together after you are husband and wife, 
and while your hearts are full, full to overflowing, 
with the most sacred and tender love for each other, 
and also for the dear ones who have witnessed the 
solemn ceremony which has united you in a partner- 
ship which only death can part. You know that we, 
we know that you, will this night ask God's blessing 
on this union, and every day as long as you live you 
will, if you wish the continued blessing, do the same. 
Let love to God and love for each other be so blended 
together that in happy days and days of sorrow, in 
health and in sickness, in prosperity and adversity, in 
joy and in grief, in all your counsels, there shall be a 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 225 

silver cord, ever bright and shining, woven all 
through your lives, which you have only to reach 
for and grasp, when perfect trust and peace shall 
be yours. 

Shall I tell you to love each other more and better 
than all else in this world ? Shall I tell you ever to 
have perfect confidence and trust in each other, and 
have no others to go to for counsel in matters apper- 
taining to your own selves, or your own dear home ? 
Shall I tell you to bear and forbear with each other's 
frailties ? Shall I tell you to let the last word of any 
little misunderstanding be a kiss ? I do believe you 
will have a happy, happy home, and that the Lord 
will be in your home with you. Always be ready to 
help each other, even in matters of trivial importance ; 
don't keep your kindness and courtesy and politeness 
boxed up only to be let out when company arrives ; 
little kindly attentions and acts of courtesy towards 
each other will go a long ways towards making home 
glad and happy. Remember your home is your 
castle, and always be careful whom you admit to 
intimate footing as friends ; at the same time you will 
not forget you have certain duties to church and 
society which you cannot ignore. 

With full hearts we give you our blessing and best 
love, and may God bless your home. Mamma joins 
in every word of this. 



2:1 



226 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 



To the Same. 

New York, June 15, 1880. 

You are having a good time, — of that I have no 
doubt. I knew Mary would enjoy a few days in Sara- 
toga and at the Grand Union. You do well to skip 
around and see a good deal on this your first trip 
together ; you can prolong your stay only so that you 
land at Riverside on Thursday the 24th. I will 
arrange it at the office. . . . 

As Mamma wrote, we have been at the Water Gap 
for a whole week, and it did us all good. The work 
at Riverside is almost finished, and does Charlie 
credit. Pliny is also very busy ; the college scattered 
on account of malaria. I am well, as usual, and 
happy as can be. The new stable is completed, 
and surrendered to us to-day ; it is very handsome 
and light and airy. The Rockaway road is finished 
to Woodhaven, and the balance is well along ; bonds 
sell slowly. Chesapeake & Ohio matters are improv- 
ing again, and earnings keep well up. I do get tired 
sometimes, digging away at this old sore ; but we must 
keep it up, even if it does take so many years of the 
prime of life. We don't want to leave this as a relic 
to trouble our boys in years to come. . . . 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 227 

To May L. Fish 

No. 79 Park Avenue, New York, 
July 29, 1880. 

I have written so many long letters to Mamma that 
I think she will be real glad to have me write this one 
to you. You needn't give her my love, but just put 
your arms around her neck and give her one good 
long hug for me, and then kiss her, and then do the 
same to all the dear little ones. 1 am real lonesome 
to-night to see you all, and am wondering why you 
left Fabyan's so soon ; but to-morrow morning I hope 
to get Mamma's letter telling me all about it. Were 
you ever in one place and your heart way off in 
another ? That 's the trouble with me ; my heart is 
way off in the mountains of New Hampshire, and so a 
heartless old Papa is writing to you. If it were not 
that I am sure some heart from there has come to 
me, I should not be able to write this letter of love to 
my dear daughter. I have been so busy this week 
and no let up, and to think of not seeing you all on 
Sunday is almost too much. . . . 

Do you know how much good it does me to see you 
trying to help Mamma in the care of the dear little 
sisters ? You can do a great deal in this way. I can see 
you all, — May, Edith, Bertha, Eva, and Wilbur, with 
your bright, earnest faces. All stand in a row in 
front of Mamma, and say, " We do love Papa ; " and 
she will give you all a kiss. . . . 



228 LETTERS OF HAKVEY FISK. 

To Rev. Sullivan F. Gale. 

New York, Oct. 1, 1880. 

The wires conveyed to you the sad, sad news of 
our great bereavement. Our dear, bright, beautiful 
Edith is no more ; she has gone to her heavenly home. 
We were down at the sea-shore spending a few days ; 
she was in perfect health and full of joyous happiness. 
Last Thursday morning she woke up feverish and 
feeling badly, but no alarming symptoms showed them- 
selves until Saturday afternoon ; and Monday after- 
noon she died. We took her Wednesday morning to 
" Riverside," and yesterday laid her away in the 
Ewing churchyard. Her four older brothers carried 
her tenderly, and laid her away in her grave. 

Why should this be ? Our faith does not fail us, 
we do believe in all of God's precious promises, we 
do believe she is happy in her heavenly home ; but 
the " why " is hard to see. Very close to the " open 
doors " have we been the last few days, but we could 
not see the brightness within. We know you and 
your dear wife will mourn with us, and pray that 
our faith may not grow dim, but brighten under 
this affliction. 

To May L. Fish. 

March 12, 1881. 
To-morrow morning Charlie's baby is to be bap- 
tised at his church in Harlem at half past ten o'clock. 



^LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 229 

I am so sorry Mamma and I are to be away, as also 
Eddie and Mary. Now I want you to send for John, 
and tell him to be at the door at half past nine in the 
morning with Mamma's carriage, and you take brother 
Pliny and the girls, if they want to go, and surprise 
Charlie and Lillie. This will please Mamma very 
much, I know. You can tell John why I want him to 
go with Mamma's carriage. 

I enclose a little note all for yourself and no one 
else. 

Second Note — Only for May. 

Asa memorial of our dear little Edith, and in token 
of thankfulness for Charlie's happiness this Sabbath 
day, and of our love for them all, I want you to put 
the enclosed in the collection which will be taken up 
in Charlie's church. Don't tell any one of this except 
Mamma. 

To Harvey Edward Fisk. 

Maplewood, July 18, 1882. 
Your notes and telegrams all received. They were 
very interesting, and I only hope the improvement in 
C. & O. will continue, which it ought if the earnings 
continue to improve. Please keep me posted. 

We are having a most restful time. The air is 
delicious, the mountain scenery beautiful, the eating 
good, the days hot, the nights cool. There are a 



230 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

great many New Yorkers here ; we have made some 
pleasant new acquaintances, and have renewed a 
number of old ones. So much for so much. 

I have a dream that some day C. & 0. will make us 
all rich. Then we will find a nook, a grove in the 
mountains, near some beautiful lake, and there build 
a cottage, a mountain retreat, big enough for all of us, 
children and grandchildren, where all — every one — 
may come at any time in the year ; but once a year there 
we will all gather together. You can be architect of 
the " retreat;" only have a large kitchen and servants' 
hall away from the house, where we can have some 
old " auntie " to provide and superintend without 
having a care for Mamma. There is just the spot we 
want somewhere. 

We boys took a ten-mile tramp yesterday to the 
top of Mount Agassiz, and were well repaid. We 
went one day last week through the Franconia Notch 
by Echo Lake, stopped at the Profile House for dinner, 
and generally had a good time. . . . 

To the Same. 

Maplewood, Aug. 17, 1882. 

... I am so anxious to see F. & H. down to a 
spot where we can close up, if desirable ; but that 
cannot be done until we have ready cash to pay all 
demands, which you appreciate and understand. I 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 231 

have had visions of a snug, quiet business with my 
boys, and it may be we can bring it around after a 
time ; but C. & 0. must advance considerably, and 
have a more ready market, to accomplish it. I have 
several times spoken to Mamma about it since we have 
been here. I know the pressure the past ten years 
has been too heavy, and many times I have been 
heart-sick because I could not do things in my and 
your careful way. This is entre nous at present ; more 
when 1 return. 

The rest is doing me much good in many ways ; and 
if all things were so I could, I should stay until after 
Pliny's wedding. . . . 



To May L. Fisk. 

Riverside, Sept. 4, 1882. 

Last evening I told Bertha that a horse could run 
very fast, that a railroad train going sixty miles an 
hour was fast, that the wires sent the telegraph mes- 
sage very fast, that a flash of lightning went fast, 
but if she would shut her eyes I could transport her 
hundreds of miles with greater speed. She did so, 
and I said, " Now we will go to Uncle George's front 
porch and see May." In the middle part of half a 
second we were there, and, after hugging and kissing 
you to our hearts' content, I arranged with Uncle 



232 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

George to go up this morning to the top of Perkins 
Hill, and back we came. You are a long way from 
us except in thought ; but if you look around quickly, 
you will see " Thought " after you all the time. We 
know you must be happy with Aunt Harriet, and 
Nannie, and Charlie, and Fred, and I envy — must 
never envy — you the beautiful rides among the 
Woodstock hills. 

. . . This morning I went back to work. The 
confinement in the office was hard to bear ; I was 
back among the hills, and, remembering Uncle 
George's injunction, I hitched up and rode again to 
the top of Biscuit Hill. It rested me, as he said it 
would. But good-bye, hills, woods, romance, golden- 
rod, Mount Tom and all, — bread and butter must 
claim me again for long months. Riverside looks 
splendid, everything green. " B " and Eva are very 
well, and Mamma was never better. Wilbur is full of 
business, and Akey as good-natured as ever. Charlie 
and Lillie are packing up to go in town ; Eddie and 
Mary are happy in their renovated home. No. 79 will 
not be ready for us for some weeks. Poor Pliny 
is way off, looking for a girl to support him in his 
declining years. Give lots of love to all ; and as 
for you, my dear daughter, you know how much love 
you have from Papa and all, — we could not send 
more. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 233 

To Dr. Marvin R. Vincent. 

Nov. 26, 1882. 

Will you please add the enclosed check for $500 to 
the church collection for Foreign Missions ? Your 
letter in reference to the Eighty-fourth Street Church 
was duly received, and ought to have had an imme- 
diate reply ; but an extreme pressure of business, 
together with the fact that just at present I did not 
see my way clear to do anything, has caused the 
delay. We were much disappointed that you and 
Mrs. Vincent did not get out to see us at Riverside, 
but shall hope for that pleasure the coming summer, 
if all are spared. 

Would it not be well to have some cards prepared 
before January 1st and placed in each pew, giving 
data of all the regular meetings during the year, time 
of services, etc., the regular collections, and any items 
of general interest to the congregation ? If this meets 
your approval and you will prepare the " copy " and 
have them printed, I will pay the bill with pleasure, 
and bother no one else about it. Sometimes, as in my 
own case, those who love and desire to give are much 
out of the city on Sabbath days, or absent part of the 
year, or are lazy Christians at the best, and really 
need a memorandum. The whole work of the church, 
including the Mission Chapel and the ladies' various 
societies, could be placed on a card 4 by 6. 

30 



234 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To Harvey Edward Fisk. 

Maplewood, July 17, 1883. 

. . . We are now really settled in our cottage, and 
are enjoying it hugely ; the quiet and rest, together 
with the mountain air, are building me up. I am the 
most lazy of all lazy men ; my time is spent lying 
around, or taking long rides. We have driven over 
one hundred miles the past week. . . . 

How much I wish that I could be free from busi- 
ness for months to come ! If by a word I could un- 
ravel the P. & H. problem, and begin to plan the 
new old-fashioned Banking-house, how happy I should 
be ! That is my dream now. Mamma says, " Come, 
it 's late for dinner." Love to both. 

To the Same. 

Maplewood, July 30, 1883. 

The result of Dr. Gillette's visit was positive advice 
and commands to get on the ocean as soon as possible. 
He promised to come in and tell you and Charlie, so 
I suppose you know all the reasons. Let me confess 
it was a bitter pill to swallow, and for forty-eight 
hours I had the " fidgets " awfully ; but now I have 
become reconciled to it, and to a certain degree am 
anxious to be off. Up to this moment have received 
no replies to my telegrams of Saturday or this morn- 
ing. Mamma says she can be ready by Saturday. The 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 235 

" Germanic" is a splendid steamer, and the sooner we 
are off the better. Our party will be Mamma, Wilbur, 
May, " B ", Eva, Charles Chapman, and Mamie and 
Pliny if he can be spared ; also Maggie and James. 
On Mamma's account I want the finest staterooms that 
can be procured, and if possible an extra large one 
for her. I cannot express all that is involved in this 
sudden start across the ocean ; but one thing is cer- 
tain, that if you and Charlie had not developed into 
such splendid business men, I could not think of it. 
Am willing to leave all my and Mamma's interests in 
your hands. I know it is leaving a heavy burden on 
the hands of my beloved partner Mr. Hatch, but the 
necessity is great unless Dr. Gillette exaggerates my 
case ; he was very solemn about it. You can at once 
read this letter to him, and tell him I wish he would 
arrange to spend Wednesday morning with me, or 
evening, if it will suit him better. Would like you 
and dear Mary to be with us Tuesday evening on our 
arrival, and remain until we sail. There are many 
things to talk over, and Mamma would like Mary's 
assistance. . . . 

As to the length of our stay, it is all dark to me ; cir- 
cumstances will have to govern. We are so pleasantly 
fixed here, all is so delightful, that it is hard to move 
for a wild voyage across the Atlantic ; but the hand 
of duty seems directly pointed that way. We shall 
try and be a very happy party, and hope to return 



236 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

in due season, well and strong. The finding that our 
day of trial has been removed to January, 1886, re- 
moved a great obstacle to my going. Read this to 
Charlie. 

New York, Aug. 3, 1883. 

My dear Boys Edward and Charlie, — I had 
thought to write you a long letter, but I cannot. 
To you I consign all my and your dear Mamma's 
interests during our absence, and I know the trust 
will be kept sacredly. In case I never return, I 
leave your dear Mamma and the little ones to your 
loving care. As the children grow up, they will all 
on all occasions be dear Mamma's loving companions. 
Of her sterling worth and goodness I cannot tell you, 
as you know it already. We have been blessed with 
good children, and we know we have their love and 
confidence. May God bless and keep you ever and 
ever. The enclosed document is only another token 
of our love. Aleck we leave with you ; you must 
watch over him, and help him to become a good busi- 
ness man. Pliny we have with us, and he will be a 
great comfort and help. Now I want you all to stick 
together, and all make Mamma your chief regard. 

New York, Aug. 4, 1883. 

My dear Boy Aleck, — We can only say, God bless 
and keep you ever and ever. We know your prayers 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 237 

and loving wishes will be with us all the way across, 
and every step of our journey. 

We shall write you often, and shall look for letters 
from you. We want you three boys to stick very 
close together while we are gone. Your steady de- 
portment and business-like ways in the office are 
worthy of great commendation, and will go far to lead 
those clerks under your influence to be the same. 

Now good-bye, and may God bless and keep you all. 

At Sea, Aug. 7, 1883. 
My dear Boys, — ... When at last the gang-plank 
was pulled ashore, and we started, it was a strange, 
weird sensation ; the great, deep, wide ocean was ahead 
of us, with its unknown dangers, and home and dear 
ones were left behind. Soon the pilot waved his good- 
bye. At 7.35 we passed the light-ship, and then dark- 
ness and the great waters surrounded us. It would 
be impossible to describe my feelings, or to convey 
to you the deep love which welled up in my heart for 
those left, for those with me. The ocean seemed 
boundless : the feeling of utter helplessness shadowed 
over me. Soon the vessel began to feel the long swell 
of the Atlantic. I lay on deck and watched the stars 
come out, and they never seemed so much like old 
friends ; I began to feel at home. That night I lay 
hour after hour listening to the swash of the waters 
and the steady stroke of the engine. 



238 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

Bright and early, a glorious Sabbath morning, we 
were on deck ; it was a day of peace and delight. 
We passed many coasters, and were much amazed at 
the sight of the whales, one rising within a hundred 
feet of the ship. At half-past ten most of the passen- 
gers gathered in the main saloon for Divine service. 
It was very solemn, and as the words of the grand 
old hymn " Abide with me " were sung by all so 
earnestly, for a moment I was almost overcome with 
my fullness of heart. I shall never forget that meet- 
ing : the blue ocean all around us, our ship the only 
land, our great steamer driving ahead, and every 
moment taking us farther and farther from land. 

We rested all the day through. The night was a 
little rough, and the morning saw many sea-sick 
faces. The day was beautiful in the morning, but 
about midday it clouded up, and in the distance we 
could see the dark thunder-storms. Suddenly, about 
five miles from us, we saw two ugly-looking water- 
spouts, the most curious sight I ever saw; when they 
struck the ocean, the commotion was tremendous. 
The captain told me they were ugly customers. 
Toward night the wind freshened, the ship rolled so 
that it was difficult to walk without staggering, and 
we went to bed expecting a rough morning ; but we 
woke up to a calm sea, and all day it has been like a 
lake. 

We are now one-third of the way over, and are 



LETTERS OE HARVEY FISK. 239 

making 15 knots an hour. For some reason the 
captain is taking a very southerly course ; no one 
knows why, unless to escape the fogs and possible 
icebergs on the banks of Newfoundland. He is a 
positive, austere man, and very attentive to his busi- 
ness. We all love our ship, and it certainly is ably 
equipped and managed. Life on shipboard is strange ; 
so far I have lain around and read nothing, I am so 
lazy. We have some excellent people aboard, and 
have made many pleasant acquaintances. Mamma 
is a great astonishment to me. She is brave and 
cheerful, and not one word of concern has crossed 
her lips. She is around all the time, — not a moment 
of sea-sickness, or a qualm. The children are happy, 
and running around the deck all the time, and even 
that does n't bring a word of worry to her lips, — in 
fact, I am proud of her. Eva told Mamma she liked 
this better than Maplewood. Wilbur is quite serious, 
thinks a great deal of home, but withal he is happy ; 
he is keeping the "log" for me, and a map of our 
course. I will send you a copy with this. 

Day by day I propose to continue this letter, and 
mail it on arrival. Every incident I know will inter- 
est you, — the daily life of shipboard is about the 
same. We eat — oh, how we eat ! — breakfast at 8.30, 
lunch at 1, dinner at 6, supper at 9 ; this last meal 
is partaken of by only a few. We have none of us 
stayed from a meal except this supper. I am on the 



240 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

starboard side in one of those grand steamer chairs, 
and every moment or two I stop and look at the sea, 
which I love so much, for it rests me. The waters 
now are a deep, deep blue, and so beautiful. Our 
ship is 500 feet long, 5008 tons burden, and steady 
and true. The feeling of confidence is a thing of 
growth, and with us it has grown rapidly. Good-bye 
for to-day ; it is now 2 o'clock N. Y. time, and 3.15 
ship time. . . . 

August 11, 11.10 N. Y., 2.30 on Shipboard. 

... I hope you will get a cable from us Monday 
morning, which I know you w r ill be eagerly looking for. 
The rest and change has done me lots of good, as 
it has all the rest. 

There are great lessons to be learned in an ocean 
voyage. One is constant watchfulness. The ship's 
bells ring every half hour, and after nine o'clock 
evenings the lookouts way forward cry in a doleful 
voice, "All's well." They wail it out in a long- 
drawn, hoarse voice, which can be heard above all 
other noises. Another is great regularity ; every- 
thing is done on the moment. Another is prompt 
action ; the instant the " Bosen's " whistle is sounded, 
every sailor is in his place, and knows just what to 
do. Another is great caution with good courage. 

As I write, the swell is increasing, and everything 
is beginning to creak and groan ; but still the power- 
ful engine keeps up its steady strokes, and we go 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 241 

booming on at full speed. The ship is alive, and 
breasts every wave like a live being, — as it is. Only 
to think that we are now only about five hundred miles 
from the old country, and you can believe home 
seems far, far away ; but still in a twinkling of 
thought I am with you all. Quicker than lightning 
is thought, and some day perhaps we can chain it 
so as to send messages from the wide ocean to those 
at home. To-morrow by this time, if all goes well, we 
shall be less than two hundred miles out. Ever with 
love, good-bye for to-day. . . . 

Edinburgh, Aug. 17. 

... I don't wonder the English and Scotch are 
proud of their land, and love it. Hedges both sides 
of the line, between the fields, or solid stone walls, — 
how Eddie would have enjoyed it ! We passed through 
Lancaster, Preston, Carlisle, and many other beautiful 
" towns," — no cities here. 

Richard was an object of startling interest and 
awful admiration at every station. They stared at 
him ; and when he grinned and showed his white 
teeth, they were dumbfounded. The people here, 
many of them, never saw a black man, and their 
astonishment is great. We think of opening a 
show, the " Black Prince of Riverside," at a shilling 
admittance, and I have no doubt it would pay all 
expenses. In Liverpool the street boys turned 

31 



242 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

somersaults along the street ahead of him ; he 
likes the notoriety, and I am afraid he is becoming 
vain. He is doing splendidly so far. 

And now we are at Edinburgh ; but its castles and 
palaces and splendid buildings and parks must re- 
main for the next letter. One thing I must tell 
you, — I could not bear to alter the home time of 
my watch, so I bought a silver one in Liverpool to 
travel with, and keep mine to look at, and think 
of what you are doing at home. At this moment 
Silver says 11.30 p.m., u Home " says 6.35, — you 
eating dinner, and I ought to have been abed an 
hour ago. Mamma keeps splendid, May is bright 
and overflowing with everything, "B" is just "B," 
and dear little Eva is our delight, — the best trav- 
eller you ever saw. Wilbur is sober, takes in every- 
thing, is very tender and thoughtful, but thinks much 
of Riverside and Charlie and you all. Give so much 
love to Mary and Lillie and the dear little ones, — 
these letters are for them as well. . . . 

Edinburgh, Aug. 22, 1883. 

Your first letters were received Sunday morning 
before breakfast, and how good they tasted ; although 
written only two or three days after we left, they were 
from home. . . . 

To say this is a beautiful, interesting old town, 
does n't express anything ; it must be " seen to be 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 243 

appreciated." We are full of old castles, palaces, 
ruins, statues, museums, and the like. ... If I should 
describe everything, my letters would be full of a 
mass of grands, beautifuls, statelys, and the like. 

But, to begin, Holyrood Abbey and Palace was the 
most interesting building to me. Parts of it are 
many hundred years old. There Queen Mary passed 
most of her short reign ; her rooms are still as occu- 
pied by her. The old castle is another wonderfully 
interesting spot, — old St. Giles, with its recollections 
of John Knox, and so many other old places. Sunday 
morning we went to hear Dr. McGregor at St. Cuth- 
bert's (Established) ; it is a quaint old church, with 
two galleries, immense in size. He gave us a real 
old Scotch Presbyterian sermon. In the evening we 
went to St. Mary's Cathedral, — Episcopal, — and 
a more beautiful building I never saw. The city is 
full of parks, the buildings are grand, the main streets 
are broad and clean. Our hotel, the Royal, is delight- 
fully situated on Princes' Street ; our rooms are large 
and very pleasant. Now, I know I have not told you 
much about Edinburgh. My head is full of it, but 
where to begin ! You must be content with follow- 
ing us in Appletons'. 

Now about the people. They are a study. They are 
very close in small things, very liberal in large, — as 
evinced by their museums, libraries, and the like, — but 
they stand over a " saxpance." They are as fine, 



244 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

healthy-looking people as T ever saw. In dress they 
are neat but not extravagant. They are a great 
church-going people and love whisky, but there 
is no drunkenness. They are very jealous of the 
English, and don't love them. We have nothing in 
New York to compare with their banking buildings. 
The stores are very fine. This is the metropolis of 
Scotland. . . . 

To-day is only our eighth since we landed, but it 
seems like weeks and weeks, — not that the time 
hangs heavy, but we see so much in so short a 
time. I would give Edinburgh Castle for the privi- 
lege of half an hour on the porch this afternoon at 
Riverside, and this whole tour for a sight of my dear 
boys, which always includes the girls and grand- 
children. . . . 

To the Same. 

Edinbuugh, Aug. 25, 1883. 
. . . To say we have enjoyed our stop here is need- 
less ; it has been one constant round of things new 
and old. There is strangely blended here the old and 
new ; the new far surpasses the old in beauty and com- 
fort, but the associations surrounding the old of course 
give the absorbing interest. To walk within the grim 
stone walls of the old castles, palaces, chapels, and 
churches, and to feel the presence of those who cen- 
turies ago made them alive with the grandeur of those 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 245 

old times, is a sensation which cannot be expressed. 
Mary Queen of Scots, Lord Darnley, James II., John 
Knox, and all those old giants who went to make his- 
tory, are now e very-day talk. Macbeth, Macduff, Ban- 
quo, are no longer vague shadows, — they all lived. 

To the Same. 

The Trossachs, Aug. 26. 
Our ride from Edinburgh here was delightful. 
First the open country, with its beautiful farms, 
trees, and places, then villages and old castles, until 
we reached Stirling. The old castle and Wallace's 
monument were plainly in sight ; thence on to Cal- 
lander, where we took a coach eight miles for this 
place. This part of the ride we all enjoyed. The 
road was splendid ; for several miles we skirted the 
borders of Loch Vennacher, then Loch Achray. . . . 

To the Same. 

Glasgow, Aug. 29, 1883. 
The Scotch lakes are a humbug, don't forget that ; 
they are wet above, below, and sideways. We left 
the Trossachs at ten o'clock yesterday morning on a 
coach for Loch Katrine, — about a mile, — where we 
took the boat, a little bit of a tugboat, with a box of 
a cabin which was crammed, and with decks so full 
you could not stir. Just as we started it commenced 



246 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

to rain, and every minute it rained harder and blew 
harder ; after an hour we reached the landing. How 
it rained ! No cover to the dock, and five miles to 
ride on top of a coach to Loch Lomond ! It took 
us half an hour to get started, and it poured literally 
cats and dogs ; we were drowned three or four times. 
On arrival at Loch Lomond, we were marched down 
to the boat in the rain. About twenty-five miles on 
that lake, rain all the way, and so misty we could 
hardly see the shore. We arrived at last, soaked ; 
there was a grand rush for the cars, and a great 
scramble for places ; but we found a saloon car sent 
up expressly for us, and did n't we call down bless- 
ings on the head of Mr. McLaren, Superintendent of 
the North British Railway ! . . . 

Glasgow is a great, growing, bustling, live city ; 
streets full of people, stores large and fine. Edin- 
burgh is a classical, literary city. This is a business 
place, with its 700,000 people, its river Clyde, with 
the vast shipyards, and its commerce reaching all 
over the world ; but all except the great shipyards 
we could see in New York. The Glasgow Cathedral 
is the great object of interest ; it is six hundred years 
old, in splendid preservation, and is a beautiful speci- 
men of early English architecture. It is vast in size ; 
and the stained glass windows, which are a recent pro- 
duction, are wonderful to behold. . . . 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 247 

To the Same. 

Paris, Sept. 7, 1883. 

. . . We are all enjoying Paris immensely ; we feel 
so settled and contented, our hotel is so homelike, the 
cooking is so excellent. We have dejeuner at nine, 
dejeuner d la fourchette at 12.30, and diner at 6.30. 
How shall I describe Paris ! It is simply magnifi- 
cent ; the boulevards and avenues and streets are 
all beautiful, and wonderfully clean. The public 
buildings are grand beyond description. Commen- 
cing at the Palais du Louvre, then the Palais des 
Tuileries, then the Jardin des Tuileries, then the 
Place de la Concorde, then the Champs Elyse'es, 
then the Arc de Triomphe, then the Avenue de la 
Grande Armee, then the Bois de Boulogne, — there 
is a succession of grandeur inconceivable. This is all 
right through the heart of the city, miles in extent ; 
the palaces, gardens of most beautiful flowers, statues, 
fountains, walks, roads, seats for the million, noble 
buildings, — all go to make a tout ensemble which 
staggers one with its very grandeur. . . . 

This is literally a republique, — all are citizens, 
every place is open to them. Staring you in the 
face all over the city, engraved on the buildings, are 
the words " Egalite, Liberte, Fraternite." It is a city 
of pleasure ; everything that can be done is done to 
please the people. The city is full of places of amuse- 



248 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

merit, and on the grandest scale. The Grand Opera 
House would swallow all the theatres in New York ; 
the Government gives them a grant of 600,000 francs 
annually. Way down there is an unrest somewhere. 
This is a walled city, — immense walls and fortifica- 
tions completely surround it. My amusement so far 
has been in strolling around, observing the people 
and places. So far I have not visited any galleries 
or buildings ; I want to get the hang of the city 
first. The streets are macadamised, the sidewalks 
asphalt, or some similar composition, and all as 
clean as Eddie's cellar floor. There is an abundance 
of water, and it is used freely on the streets, — little 
is used as a beverage. Wine and beer are the 
universal drinks, but no drunkenness. The people 
are good-natured, and awfully polite. The shops 
and stores would put New York to the blush, — 
miles and miles of the most beautifully decorated 
windows. . . . 

To Alexander Cr. Fish. 

Paris, Sept. 11, 1883. 
This is a special letter to you, and is intended to 
reach you on your twenty-first birthday, the 26th. . . . 
Your becoming a man does not make you any the less 
our boy. Time has slipped three of our boys into man- 
hood ; and now you come along, the fourth. That we 
have been greatly blessed in our children, there can 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 249 

be no mistake. We are sorry we cannot be home to 
celebrate your twenty-first birthday, but let us hope 
that in time we can celebrate your birthday and our 
return all at once. 

You know my sermons to my boys are all short ; 
I am not given to much speaking. To be honest, 
upright, manly, and to love the Lord with all you 
have and are, comprises about all I can say. That 
you will do so, I have no doubt. You have learned 
how to use and take care of money, and therefore I 
feel glad to tell you that every year since you were 
born, I have laid by and invested little by little for 
you until now it amounts to upwards of $5,000, and 
all well invested. I cannot give any one else the 
pleasure of putting this in your hands, and so will 
let the happiness of telling you of it be all suffi- 
cient for the present. 

Now let me give you some general advice on 
money matters. Keep your own counsels. Tell no 
one of your affairs. Keep a strict account of your 
investments. Collect the income whenever due, and 
regularly invest it. Always live within your income. 
Do not borrow, do not lend. Give a share to the Lord, 
for from Him come all your blessings. I know all this 
is only repeating your own feelings. As this letter is 
for you alone, I won't say anything in general, only 
that we are all well and happy. May God bless and 
keep you ever and ever. 

32 



250 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To Pliny Fisk, Trenton, N. J. 

Paris, Sept. 22, 1883. 

My dear Brother, — The boys have been directed 
to keep you and Ibbie posted of our movements, and I 
have no doubt they have done so, but it may be you 
would like to hear from me direct. We remember 
you and Ibbie in our thoughts and talks ; as being so 
far away, our thoughts centre on those dear to us. 
Louisa wrote to Ibbie, which letter I presume has 
been received. My letter-writing has been confined 
to the " boys," except a letter or two to Auntie Fisk, 
who was not even advised of our departure. It seems 
strange to be writing you from Paris. That we should 
be at home in this wonderfully beautiful city in this 
far-off land, among these foreign people, surrounded 
by palaces and remembrances of the greatness of 
France in former clays as well as now, must be a 
dream, but a dream so full of new and strange 
delight that we would not wake up. 

Opposite us, is the Jardin des Tuileries, fronting the 
Palais des Tuileries ; this is our centre. We look out 
of our windows at the beautiful garden, its old trees, 
its beautiful flowers, and we remember its bloody his- 
torical interest, — the changes from monarchy to re- 
publicanism, the howling, murderous commune, and 
the wonderful calm and peace of to-day, — and all 
this we see everywhere. In the Louvre, the H6tel 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 251 

de Ville, the Pantheon, at Luxembourg, in the 
Champs Elysees, in the Bois de Boulogne, we see 
the ghosts of the struggle of France for liberty, — 
liberty of speech, of press, of person; freedom from 
the vices of the Empire; and, most of all, the right 
to believe in and worship God. Did you know that 
the once murdered-out Huguenots have now 800,000 
in number in France, with perfect freedom to worship 
God as they please ? The press is free ; no longer 
muzzled, the people can talk as freely as in America. 
A more industrious and saving people never were 
seen, but they are too light-hearted ; such gaiety, 
such fetes, such Sundays ! There is much less work 
than I expected to see, but all sorts of amusements. 
Still, the people are orderly and so polite ; a little 
more of the latter virtue would be a good thing in 
America. 

Here we are among all this, but any attempt to 
describe Paris would be more than I can aspire to. 
Geographically, it is in France, on the continent of 
Europe ; it has upwards of 2,000,000 people ; it is a 
walled city, surrounded by a double line of fortifi- 
cations. Socially, it is the gayest, brightest, most 
sparkling city in the world. Sanitarily, it is the 
healthiest city of its size in the world ; the drain- 
age is perfect ; the streets are clean as can be, all of 
them. So much for the general view of Paris. Now 
a word on its beauties, — not human! Cutting 



252 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

through Paris in all directions are the noble boule- 
vards, its grand avenues, — no regularity, but a 
perfect system, — all broad, 150 to 500 feet, and 
lined with trees, often double and triple rows. These 
boulevards cut right through the business parts of 
the city as well as the residence. In fact, business, 
pleasure, and living all go together. The avenues 
are no less grand ; there are no parallel lines, but they 
cut and run in all directions, numerous radiating cen- 
tres. The houses are all fortresses. There are no 
front doors with steps ; in place, on the level of the 
pavement, is a great big barn door, through which 
you walk or drive into a central court, where you 
always find the inevitable concierge. . . . 

Hearing the talk in the streets, and the ways of the 
French, take me back to Montreal ; and often I feel 
myself there and in my boyhood. And the remem- 
brance brings back the old familiar faces of the dear 
parents and sisters and brothers gone to their rest, 
and in golden streets more beautiful than all things 
earthly. 

Why is France so blessed in climate and in all 
these beautiful objects ? Surely they have not been 
blessed with the prudishness and coldness of New 
England's stern virtues. But an all-day letter can- 
not convey to you one iota of what we feel and see 
each day. I am the veritable Wandering Jew. I 
have tramped all over Paris alone with such keen 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 253 

enjoyment. Every odd time, when the rest are tired 
out, I go and tramp up and down the boulevards, 
way out on the by-streets ; sometimes get really lost, 
and then pick up the first hack and get where I 
know myself. The streets are all safe, with gen- 
darmes everywhere, also the mounted Gardes de 
Paris; and all goes smoothly as a marriage bell, 
until the next rising of the people — against what ? 
— the great stealings of those in power. . . . 

To A. S. Hatch. 

Paris, Sept. 30, 1883. 

Perhaps you would like to hear direct from your 
far-away partner. If I have not written you, it is not 
because you have not been in my thoughts a very 
great deal. As far as possible, I have dropped all 
remembrance of business or America except so far 
as those very near and dear are concerned. Among 
the marvellous old and wonderful new things of this 
beautiful city it is no great trouble. I feel sure I am 
gaining back my old strength, yet occasional set- 
backs are among my pleasures. . . . 

I have circulated none at all among the banking 
fraternity, but am in my own way forming impres- 
sions of all that appertains to our business. You 
may be sure of one thing, that so far my conclusions 
are very favourable to New York and Wall Street, as 



254 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

compared to London and Paris. That New York 
with giant strides is fast gaining the financial su- 
premacy of the world, there can be no doubt. One 
thing of great importance towards this consummation 
ought to be agitated and brought to a speedy conclu- 
sion, and that is the consolidation of Brooklyn and 
New York into one city. We suffer in comparing 
population, when really the two cities united would 
rival Paris with its 2,000,000 ; while from a common 
centre, and taking in a sweep of ten miles, about the 
ground covered by London, we should crawl a long 
way up to its population. My trip through Europe 
will be one of quiet observation and forming my own 
conclusions. . . . 

Paris, Sept. 30 ; 1883. 
My dear Boys, — ... Paris has been excited yes- 
terday and to-day over the visit and arrival of King 
Alphonse of Spain. He has been on a trip to Ger- 
many, and while there Emperor William made him the 
complimentary commander of the " Uplans," a regi- 
ment of cavalry very conspicuous in the late war. 
This excited the French people very much, and in 
consequence his reception yesterday was very cold and 
almost insulting. It may be that " old rat " Bis- 
marck planned the whole thing to create ill-feeling 
between France and Spain. The French people are 
growing in strength, but it will be many a long day 
before they will hope to punish(?) Germany without 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 255 

assistance. After another four weeks I can render 
an opinion after seeing Germany. I cannot now see 
why there should be another great European war. 
There is a general grasping for knowledge and true 
liberty all over the Continent. Rome has utterly and 
forever ceased to govern Europe. The Bible is free, 
the press is free, as far as most of Europe is 
concerned. . . . 

The children are learning French rapidly. May 
can talk with any one if she finds they cannot speak 
English ; Wilbur is learning rapidly also, and " B " 
is a good scholar. May gives a lesson of half an 
hour to her class every morning. Maggie, Eva, and 
Richard compose the class. Richard says, " Danney 
me del paine, seel vou pleas, — how's that for French, 
Miss May ? " and then there is a grand chorus of 
laughter, Eva's little voice predominating. But he is 
very anxious to learn, and tries hard. . . . 

Do you know the letters back and forth are mak- 
ing a bridge across the Atlantic which will sparkle 
with the joy and happiness of the reunion all the 
way across on our return ? . . . 

To the Same. 

Brussels, Belgium, Oct. 4, 1883. 

At last we have left Paris and are in another 
country. . . . 



256 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

After four weeks in Paris, I have become pro- 
foundly interested in the French people and the 
French Republic ; they are an industrious hard-work- 
ing people, — all Europe is jealous of them, and in 
every way is trying to make their government un- 
popular. Germany is strong by mere brute force ; 
it has not one half the revenue or business of France. 
Spain is nothing beside them ; Italy is much more 
to be respected. Austria and Russia are far behind, 
while Turkey is no account as a power. The sympa- 
thies of Americans should be with France in its 
struggles to maintain itself among all the old mon- 
archies. France may yet have to bathe itself in 
blood to become purified and noble. Vive la 
Republique ! . . . 

To Mrs. Jonathan Fisk. 

Cologne, Germany, Oct. 1-i, 1883. 
Here we are, spending a Sabbath in this old, old 
city, founded 35 b. c. on the banks of the Rhine. 
The great object of interest is the " Dom," or Cathe- 
dral, which has been some seven hundred years in 
process of erection. To say it is a noble structure, a 
magnificent building, does n't express anything. It 
is grand in its simplicity, it is majestic in its propor- 
tions, it is beautiful in conception, and wonderful in 
its loveliness. It is literally covered with carvings 
in stone ; the top bristles with its hundreds of finials, 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 257 

pinnacles, and turrets ; while its two towers mount 
to the dizzy height of five hundred and twelve feet, 
— the highest in the world. You can form some 
little conception by remembering that Trinity Church 
spire in New York is two hundred and eighty-six feet 
high. The interior is simply beautiful. It is a fitting 
monument to Christ, and only in this way can you 
reconcile yourself to its grandeur. . . . 

Monday Evening, Oct. 15. 

My dear Boys, — We left Cologne this morning, all 
well, in splendid spirits, bound for Coblentz, where we 
arrived about noon. . . . This city is one of the Ger- 
man strongholds, and the fortifications surrounding it 
are of the strongest character. It is also walled, with 
a deep, wide fosse outside. The streets are literally 
full of soldiers. It is easy to imagine we are here in 
war-times, of which the mutterings grow louder and 
louder, but I do not believe such a thing is possible 
at present ; but if the fires are once kindled, the whole 
of Europe will blaze with fervent heat. . . . 

It is so hard to realise that we are here in the 
middle of Europe, and you all are in America ; but 
so it is. We talk and walk and eat and sleep just 
as we do at home. The trees and grass and hills 
and river look much the same, but here is not the 
glorious feeling of liberty, not the stars and stripes 
of America. We do not have to keep great armies 

33 



258 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

on a war footing for fear of our neighbours. I can 
now understand why America is the land of hope for 
the whole world, and why all peoples are flocking to 
its shores. And there is one of our dangers, that 
they will bring to our shores false ideas of liberty, 
and the Old World w^ays of living, and especially of 
keeping the Sabbath. On the Christian young people 
of America devolves a great responsibility as how best 
to meet and influence them. 

But coming downstairs again, and going back to 
Cologne. I cannot get out of my mind that noble 
Cathedral ; its beauty is photographed on my brain, 
and my eyes see it all the time. The last look at the 
towers as we left the city seemed like bidding good-bye 
to a beautiful dream in which we had seen visions so 
wonderful that we could not awake. Forgetting the 
Roman Church, forgetting all the mummeries and 
superstitions, and seeing only these splendid monu- 
ments, and as we see them one by one, we can but 
feel the nobility of Him for whom all this is really in 
memory. They are His monuments. He was not a 
King with powerful armies and great treasures. He 
is not dead, yet all over the world the millions of 
towers and steeples testify that He lived as a man 
on this earth. This " Dom " has filled me full. How 
much I would love to look at it with Eddie ! Yester- 
day afternoon, just at dusk, I went around with the 
boys to take a final look at the interior. It happened 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 259 

to be afternoon service. We sat down on a stone 
bench near the door, and listened to the organ and 
singing. No words can describe the effect as the 
sound wound in and out through that vastness of space. 
The interior is a thing of perfect beauty, and seems a 
fitting place to worship God. We have now seen St. 
Giles at Edinburgh, the Cathedral at Glasgow, St. 
Paul's and Westminster Abbey at London, Notre Dame, 
the Pantheon, and the Madeleine at Paris, the " Dom" 
at Cologne, the Strassburg Cathedral, the Milan, and 
St. Peter's at Rome. 

This is enough for to-night. No, there is one more 
little incident which I must tell you, as it tickled all 
the family. It rained this afternoon, but Wilbur and 
I, with Charlie C. and Auguste, took a carriage, and 
drove out to the Stolzenfels Castle. Carriages not 
being permitted inside the gates, we were obliged to 
walk ; and as the Castle is perched way up on the 
steep and lofty banks of the Rhine, and it was rain- 
ing, we had no easy job. The road up winds like a 
corkscrew. About half-way up Ave met a boy with 
two donkeys. I mounted one, and Wilbur the other, 
and off we started. The shouts of laughter of all 
hands at my odd figure, with a big umbrella jammed 
down on my head, and hanging on to that donkey, 
were enough to rouse all the ghosts in that old Castle ; 
but we went bravely on, and rode up to the draw- 
bridge in fine style. If I had only had a feather in 



260 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

my hat, a lance in one hand, and a horn in the other 
on which to have blown a merry peal, I would really 
have been an old Knight Errant. How the children 
and Mamma did roar when Wilbur told them of it ! 
But we were more than repaid for all our trouble, — 
the Castle was beautiful. Now, really, good-night. 



To Alexander G. Fisk. 

Paris, Oct. 27, 1883. 

In order to bring everything square up to this 
point, I shall have to write a separate letter to each 
of my boys, as my general letters are the narrative 
of our trip. . . . 

Your letters just before and after your birthday 
were full of interest to us all ; we were so glad that 
dear old Riverside saw our boy reach his twenty- 
first birthday, — it was grand and well done. Your 
letters to the children do them so much good, and of 
those to Mamma and myself we enjoy every word. . . . 
We take great interest in hearing about your Chinese 
school, and the meetings at the hospital. As my 
part, and to show a real interest, Eddie is authorised 
to give you $50, as you need it, to help along the 
good work. I suppose you and Charlie and Lillie 
represent us at Dr. Vincent's church. When you see 
him, give him my love, and tell him we would love to 
hear one of his good sermons. Tell him I received 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 261 

the card, and liked it very much ; also hand him the 
enclosed check for the October collection for the 
Presbyterian Board of Ministerial Relief. I do not 
intend to forget Dr. Vincent or the church in my 
absence. Some objects are presenting themselves 
here in connection with the American Chapel and 
its mission work to which I shall contribute while 
here. . . . 

The day before Thanksgiving tell James and 
Joseph to get their big turkey and fixings, and re- 
member me as they eat. I often think of them both, 
and would love to have them around me ; they are 
two good faithful men. Also send Stoirie a good big 
turkey and basket of groceries with my love. Do all 
this the day before. . . . 

To Harvey Edward Fish. 

Paris, Oct. 29, 1883. 
. . . Here in Paris there are no beggars or tramps 
to be seen ; they are suppressed without any mercy, 
and it adds much to the comfort of going about. 
The rest and change are beginning to do me decided 
good, which I hope will be permanent. . . . Give lots 
of love and kisses to Mary, and tell her that piano 
will have to be banged on our return. She must 
learn Yankee Doodle with all the variations ; we 
shall be full of it. It does us good to hear such good 



262 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

accounts from you all, and that you hang together. 
Can't you all meet at 79 for your Thanksgiving 
dinner ? . . . This will make twenty letters mailed 
to-day from all of us. 

Paris, Saturday, Nov. 3, 1883. 

My dear Boys, — ... Now we will go back to 
the old city of Strassburg, where I really felt like 
mourning. As you are aware, it is the capital city 
of the captured province of Alsace-Lorraine, taken 
from France by the Germans in the late war. I no 
longer wonder that the beautiful statue of Strass- 
burg in the Place de la Concorde is draped in mourn- 
ing, and that the French people feel the loss so 
keenly. It is full of soldiers, — the best in Germany ; 
the fortifications are of immense strength, and are 
being constantly added to. The Germans intend to 
keep it. The people talk more French than German, 
the names of the streets have all been changed from 
French to German, German only is taught in the 
schools ; but it will be hard to change the hearts 
of a people who for two centuries have been allied 
to France. 

I, as usual, took a long walk around the city to 
observe the people and their ways, and was much 
struck by all I saw. The old part of the city is very 
interesting. The houses are high, with great, steep 
roofs, full of windows, which give them the appear- 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 263 

ance of pigeon houses. During the terrible bombard- 
ment by the German army about five hundred houses 
were destroyed ; these have been rebuilt in modern 
style by the Government. In the midst of this part 
of the city is one of the real old buildings which 
escaped the shot and shell, — not once struck, while 
all around was destroyed. It is related of the old 
Dutchman who owned it, that when he saw the new 
buildings going up, he tore his hair, swore big Dutch 
oaths, and drank a barrel of beer at one sitting, so 
great was his chagrin that his house was not destroyed 
" mit dem dam Germans." 

A very significant circumstance happened the night 
before we arrived there. One of the German soldiers 
on guard was murdered ; in consequence all the sol- 
diers around after dark were ordered to carry loaded 
guns with fixed bayonets. I met hundreds of them 
in the little stroll I took in the evening. But no war 
is coming at present, unless some accident should 
hasten it. You may be sure a great war will startle 
all Europe before many years. Again, vive la Repub- 
lique de la belle France ! . . . 

Did you ever read a delightful book, and feel 
sorry you had read it, because you could never read 
it the first time again ? Such is my feeling about the 
ride from Strassburg to Paris ; it was beautiful and 
grand. Through the Yosges Mountains the scenery 
was grand. There was one succession of tunnels, 



264 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

fills, cuts, bridges, rocks, and wildness. Then we 
passed through the champagne-wine district, with its 
vast vineyards. But towns, cities, mountains, hills, 
vineyards, and beautiful scenery were wafted behind 
us, and all too soon we arrived in Paris, three hundred 
and twelve miles, at half past four, or ten hours from 
Strassburg. . . . 

We have done considerable walking and sight- 
seeing in a general way, but nothing special except 
a visit to the atelier where Bartholdi's Statue of 
Liberty is on exhibition, and now nearly completed ; 
and this deserves more than a passing notice. It is a 
gift to America from the French people, and a noble 
one it is. It is a cast of copper and iron. It is one 
hundred and fifty feet high, and noble in its pro- 
portions. It fitly represents " La Libert*} e'clairant le 
Monde," which is its title, — " Liberty enlightening 
the World." It will be all finished and ready for 
shipment to America by next month ; and a great 
shame it will be if America has not provided a fitting 
pedestal on which to stand it on its arrival. The 
enclosed picture will give an idea of its great 
beauty. 

Everywhere on this Continent America and Ameri- 
cans are respected and loved by the people, and 
nowhere so strongly as in France. America is to 
them the beacon star, the hope of those grovelling in 
darkness, the grande republique. It is the beautiful 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 265 

city on a hill where the stars and stripes waving to 
and fro are the insignia of true liberty. Let us keep 
that dear old flag clean and pure from the mildew of 
these old countries, and ever give a cheering word to 
those, like France, seeking through manifold troubles 
for the same light. Oh, dear me ! how we are brought 
down from lofty heights by stray shots ! " Are n't 
you coming to bed to-night ? " coming into my liberty 
speech, spoils the chain of thought; and so good-night. 
Liberty, after all, is only a dream. . . . 

To the Same. 
Paris, Sunday Evening, Nov. 11, 1883. 
This has been a very stormy day; but this morning 
we all, except Mamma and Eva, went to the American 
Chapel, and were well repaid. . . . The first hymn 
was so peculiarly sweet, the tune was so appropriate 
to the words, the choir sang it so beautifully, that I 
was actually charmed with it all. Won't Eddie and 
Mary please play and sing it for Eckie ? This is 
the first verse : — 

" There 's a wideness in God's mercy 
Like the wideness of the sea, 
There 's a kindness in his justice 
AVhich is more than liberty." 

Tune, " Vesper Hymn," Dr. Robinson's Spiritual 
Songs, No. 214: "Mercy," F. W. Faber. If you can 

34 



266 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

find a hymn which possesses more real true spirit of 
what is Christianity than this, I should like to have it. 
So many of our hymns are simply attempts to rhyme 
words, and in many cases so untrue, that a gem like 
"Mercy" shines all the brighter. Therefore I dedi- 
cate it to Eckie, and I know how much he will ap- 
preciate it. The American Chapel is the bright star 
of Paris. 

This time I have no cathedrals, no cities, no rail- 
roads, no mountains, valleys, vineyards, or places to 
write about ; so you can have a hotchpotch sort of 
Irish-stew letter. Little tidbits here and there on 
our travels will go into this pot. 

One bright afternoon, a few days ago, I was walking 
in the Champs Ely sees. The air was pure, the sky 
was bright, the trees were looking beautiful in their 
fading foliage, every one seemed happy, and I was 
feeling how nice it was to live, when suddenly I was 
tumbled, — perfectly squashed. "That man's an 
Irishman ; you can tell by his hat," coming in good 
plain English to my ears, and I the only man near 
by ! Woe to Dunlap when I return ! . . . 

Another clay 1 was meditating over a very bad 
cigar in the Jardin des Tuileries, when suddenly a 
gentleman and very handsome lady pounced upon me. 
" Messire, pardon nou won moraa, dites us where la 
palas via ici done, sie vou pleas." I was mashed, 
and, staring at the lady, answered, " Qui, avec grand 



LETTERS OE HARVEY FISK. 267 

plaisir. Je ne sais pas, oui, madame, la palais is over 
there at the other end of the garden, what there is 
left of it." " Why, the Frenchman speaks English ! 
Oh, thank you very much." I lit another bad one, 
and meditated no more. 

Speaking of that hat, I concluded it was time to 
buy a new one, especially as Eva had sat down on 
it several times, and so wended my way to the 
great Paris hatters, corner of La Rue de la Paix 
and L'Avenue de rOpera, entered, and was at once 
greeted by a French demoiselle, " Que voulez-vous, 
monsieur ? " "A new hat comme 9a," I answered, 
handing her my old one. She deftly took her metres, 
and measured. " Voila une grande tete, mais il est 
possible ; restez-vous ici un moment ; " and she flitted 
away to find one. Just then I overheard a gentle- 
man's voice, "That's a Dunlap; I'll bet you can't 
find a hat in Paris as good-looking as that." I 
turned, and there stood two live Americans ; we all 
smiled, i. e. laughed. The result is, I still wear the 
Irish hat. The young French lady could not find 
one to fit " la grande tete." 

Another day I started out to get a pair of soft, 
woollen-lined slippers for Mamma to slip on, getting up 
at night for Eva. After walking some distance I saw 
a ladies' shoe-store in Rue de Bac ; entered ; usual 
salutation, — always very polite, and always a made- 
moiselle. I began by pulling out one of Mamma's 



268 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

slippers. " Comme ga, mais pour la nuit," I said. 
" Pour la nuit," she repeated two or tliree times in 
perplexity. "Ah, oui, monsieur;" and she brought me 
ball slippers, opera slippers, high heels, bright and 
shiny, lots and lots. I could n't make her under- 
stand. At last I took the old one and said, " Non, 
I' enfant malade, pour la nuit." I could not muster 
anything else. " Ah, oui, oui, bon ! bon ! la bebe ! " 
and with a bright, merry laugh, she brought me the 
softest, nicest night slippers I ever saw. We were 
both relieved, and I soon made the purchase, and 
home again. Mamma says T am a good shopper ; but 
it's too bad to plague the young ladies when I can 
talk French so well ! Moral : how often we get credit 
in this world for knowing what we do not know ! 
I have picked up incidents enough to garnish my 
office talk for another twenty years. 

I rambled over to the " Invalides " the other day, — 
the grand house France has built for her veteran, 
worn-out soldiers. It is a noble building ; but it would 
have made your heart ache to see those bronzed old 
soldiers in wheeled chairs, most of them crippled, 
without arms, without legs, without eyes, noses slit 
off, ears gone, but all with such a calm, resigned 
look. They seemed to say, " Our country needed 
them more than we." Our country ! how many have 
died so manfully for " our country," while we the 
living are doing nothing! 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 269 

In another ramble in the Rue d'Anjou I saw an 
inscription on a house, " Here died the Marquis de la 
Fayette," and words to this effect: " He loved his 
country and America." He was our Lafayette. And 
so they all pass away ; but few leave such a noble 
record behind them. 

As I write, the hours go by, — it is eleven o'clock 
here and six o'clock with you. The dear ones here 
have all gone to bed. Those dear sisters of yours, 
who are growing brighter and more beautiful every 
day, and Wilbur the thoughtful, and your good 
mother, are here with me, and you are all so far 
away and still so near. I see you all, I speak to you, 
your loving looks are fixed on me ; and with all this 
happiness in my heart, so lifelike, I will close this 
hotchpotch, and once more say, God bless you all, 
every one ! 

To the Same. 
Paris, Sunday Evening, Nov. 18, 1883. 
. . . One very rainy day this w r eek I went into the 
old quarter of the city, where there are no wide boule- 
vards and avenues, but narrow crooked streets almost 
like a cobweb. The people seemed strange ; it was 
dark and dismal. At last I got all mixed up, com- 
pletely turned around, — not a familiar street, not a 
familiar building; all old, and suggestive of dark ways 
and deeds. Darkness was coming on, — no cabs, no 



270 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

policemen ; but I trudged on, up and down, and con- 
cluded Paris was a lost city. At last I stopped, lit a 
cigar, walked around a corner, and came out into the 
broad, beautiful Rue Fourth of September. How I 
got there will always be a mystery, and moreover how 
Paris turned so completely around will be another ; 
but I enjoyed it amazingly, and came home all in a 
glow with new sensations. What did I see? — the 
swarms of Paris, the gamins, the men, the women, 
stores of all kinds, crowds and crowds of people. I 
realised where the commune came from, — the men and 
women that howled through Paris the deeds of death 
and destruction. One thing is sure, — a stranger can 
go anywhere in Paris with perfect safety ; I have never 
had a word or look otherwise. . . . 

To my mind there is much greater beauty in art of 
the present day than in the old masters, and why 
should it not be so ? Old things may be picturesque, 
but certainly are not beautiful. 

We heard a sermon this morning from Dr. Kellogg, 
of New York, who is preaching for Dr. Baird in his 
absence. He has a loud voice, quick distinct utter- 
ance, and in a positive manner he proved that there 
was an overruling Providence. I thought of " Christ 
Vindicated " by Dr. Deems, or of Cornelius vindicat- 
ing Abraham Lincoln's Proclamation of Emancipation. 
Not but that Dr. Kellogg uttered great truths ; but 
when we attempt to prove what needs no proof, and 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 271 

especially such a grand, glorious truth as God's provi- 
dences, we make ourselves like the fly who attempted 
to square the ship in a big storm, — the ship was 
almost as big as the fly. Don't think for one moment 
that I am turning critic, or losing my old way of 
going to church to hear the gospel. Dr. Kellogg did 
give us a great deal of real good gospel, and espe- 
cially in his first hymn, No. 727 ; read and sing it, and 
see if you don't think so too. The congregation at 
the American Chapel is composed almost wholly of 
Americans, and it would do you good to see the cor- 
dial greetings after service. . . . 

This series of letters is proving very useful to us in 
many ways, as we often want to refer back. The 
children love to have me read them aloud, and it 
would do you good to hear their comments, often not 
flattering to such an honest old soul as 1 am. " Why, 
Papa, the idea of writing that, — sending the boys an 
Irish stew, telling about your Irish hat ! " 

I got into an awful mess trying to buy some aprons 
for Mamma's maid, and a still worse one in ordering 
some shirts for myself. They call them " chemises " 
here ; the idea of my coming to Paris to wear a 
chemise ! We are all real well and happy, and before 
many weeks shall take up our flight for the shores of 
the Mediterranean. We shall think of you all, espe- 
cially on Thanksgiving Day, and in heart and soul 
shall be with you. W T e have many, many blessings 
to be thankful for. 



272 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To Alexander G. Fisk. 

Paris, Nov. 22, 1883. 

You deserve a blessing for your real good, steady- 
coming letters to us all. . . . We take so much 
interest in all your doings, your goings and comings, 
your mission work, your boys' meetings, and the 
Chinese school. So you have voted the solid Repub- 
lican ticket ; that was well done. You must keep 
posted now on the political doings, so as to know the 
reasons why the Republican principles are the best 
for the country. What a good time you must have 
had at dear old Riverside on election day ! I wish we 
could have been there with you. We are all so glad 
Grandpa keeps so well ; you must run out occasion- 
ally and spend a night with him and Aunt Clem. 

You don't know how hard and earnestly Wilbur, 
May, " B," and Eva are studying, not only French, but 
all their other lessons. Wilbur and May are gaining 
so much knowledge by this trip abroad that will be of 
use to them all their days. They are maturing so 
rapidly that you are in a fair way, some fine morning 
next spring, to see a young gentleman and lady walk 
off the steamer and give you a big hug before you 
have discovered they are your little brother and 
sister. 

Suppose you cram your things in a bag and about 
Christmas come over here, join us at Paris, and go 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 273 

with ns to Nice, Cannes, and Italy. It 's only a little 
way, after all ; and if you did get a grand old shaking 
up crossing the wintry ocean, it would only give you 
an experience. This is a romance, as I know that 
such a thing is hardly possible ; but we do want to see 
you so much. . . . 

Paris, Nov. 25, 1883. 

My dear Boys, — The man in the moon once sat 
down to write a letter. He got his paper, his pen, his 
ink all ready, ran his fingers through his hair, and 
murmured to himself, " What shall I write about ? this 
old moon is about used up." This is somewhat my 
fix. To be sure, I could go on telling you about 
Paris, for its wonders never end ; but you must be 
getting tired of my story, and will be wishing Paris 
would move on. This week we were made happy by 
a letter from Pliny, as also letters from Eckie and 
Mary. It would be impossible to tell you how much 
good home letters do us, and how eagerly we read 
them over and over. . . . 

On Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, there will be ser- 
vices in the American Chapel at eleven o'clock, and 
at three o'clock we propose to have a real old-fashioned 
Thanksgiving dinner in our parlour. We have invited 
Mrs. Clement and daughter to be with us. You may 
be sure we shall think and talk of you all. I hope 
one of you boys will tell us the story of your dinner, 
all about it, who was at the table, what you had 

35 



274 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

before you, what you talked about, how old Henry 
behaved himself, and all you did. You all write such 
good letters, each one in his own way ; but I often 
think of the old minister's return thanks after an 
oyster supper, — he was thankful for what he had 
eaten, but he wished there had been more of them. 
You have all been real good about writing, but you 
know we have great appetites. Just think of our old 
Newfoundland-dog boy Eck putting in his first vote, 
and a good square, solid Republican ticket ! Eck 
must have grown a foot ; it was well done. . . . 

So glad the business is running so nicely and 
smoothly, and that Eddie and Charlie enjoy so much 
the full confidence of Mr. Hatch. He deserves all 
their praise, — a better, more full-hearted man would 
be hard to find. Give him lots of love from me. . . . 

Dear old boy Eck, we would love to see him, that 
he knows, and shall have a jubilee if the cable says 
he is coming ; but I want to impress it on you all 
that there must be no pushing about it. 

I have been very lazy the last few days ; I find it a 
little hard to think and write, and perhaps have not 
said all I ought to in this letter. I shall enclose one 
to Aleck himself to read first, as the final decision 
must rest with him. May God guide and direct you 
all in this whole matter. At times, especially when 
writing and thinking about you, the desire to see you 
all once more almost overcomes me. I am resting, 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 275 

and know how much I need it, but I am tired. Guess 
I am a little blue this morning, so will go out and 
take a walk and brighten up. 

To Harvey Edward Fisk. 

Paris, Dec. 3, 1883. 

. . . What a glorious thing it would be if Chesa- 
peake & Ohio earnings should increase to the point of 
paying in money the coupons of the currency bonds ! 
It would set up F. & H. and the boys on a high pin- 
nacle. But much stranger things have happened 
than this, so we will hope. . . . 

What you say about general business is very 
encouraging. Am much pleased and very glad you 
and Mr. Hatch gee so well together. He is a grand, 
good man in every way. Tell him I send love in 
every letter. Sometimes it does not seem right for 
me to be here so long, while he is bearing the brunt 
of the business ; but I hope to return strong for hard 
work in the future, and that the knowledge gained here 
will be of some use to F. & H. That this experience 
will be of lasting value to you and Charlie, I have no 
doubt. Learn all you can, as some day you may have 
to run your own ship without the old captain. At 
least he may want to be relieved from strict attention 
to business. I often look ahead, and long for the day 
when F. & H. are in a position where they could pay 



276 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

all claims on a day's notice. There is a great future 
for New York bankers. 

Paris, Dec. 16, 1883. 

My dear Boys, — My last letter must have had a 
speedy passage. We had just been talking about you 
all, and of Eckie's surprise when the letter should 
reach you, and that we certainly should receive a cable 
by Tuesday or Wednesday, when a knock at the door, 
and a cable was handed in, — "Will come on the 
1 Alaska,' Tuesday." We were astounded. What a 
shout and cheer for the old boy ! This was Sunday 
morning, 9 a. m. Then we received Charlie's of Tues- 
day, " Eckie sailed at three o'clock." And now he is 
more than half-way here, and soon I hope we can 
cable you his arrival. A dream it must be, it has all 
transpired so swiftly ! 

The time goes by so rapidly, and soon it will be New 
Year's again. Mamma is busy writing to her boys, 
and I have already written to my girls, each one sep- 
arately ; and now to all of you I send a warm, loving 
Merry Christinas and Happy New Year, and may the 
coming year be full of happiness to you all ! On the 
13th we received your " Love " cable ; it was so good 
of you to think of our anniversary. I wonder if old 
Eck did not feel a thrill of happiness as the love mes- 
sage slipped under him. We are all very well, and 
the children are getting interested in Christmas. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 277 

They are surprised at the French custom of placing 
their shoes on the hearth, instead of hanging up their 
stockings. Eva said, "I'll han' up my stoc'in' any- 
way," until she was told old Kriss would not know 
what it meant. Ask Lillie if the dear little shoes are 
not " tunning." To be away from you all on Christ- 
mas Day is very strange ; we shall miss the gathering 
at home very much. These home days with us have 
always been so precious, so happy. How dear little 
Deedy used to enjoy them ! She is with us on these 
days ; her bright lovely face and happy eyes are ever 
present. I think she took with her to heaven a piece 
from a good many hearts. 

This is only a little love letter to you all for Christ- 
mas and New Year's. When Paris moves on, then 
" My dear Boys " will hear again from Dear old 
Papa. 

To the Same. 

Cannes, France, Jan. 6, 1884. 
... I can imagine that the entrance to Inferno 
looks something like the rocky bald mountains we 
ran into on leaving Marseilles. They make me shud- 
der. They were gray and ghostly, — gorges, cuts, 
tunnels, dismal precipices, dark holes, through which 
the locomotive whistle kept screaming a dismal howl ; 
but at last, after passing a monstrous tunnel, we 
emerged into an orchard of olive trees, which was with 



278 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

us for seventy-five miles. What a lot ! millions and 
millions ! Way across the orchards were still the dis- 
mal mountains on the border of the sea. At Toulon, 
the celebrated prison of France, and where great naval 
supplies are stored, we stopped a few moments ; then 
we soon reached again the sea, through a wide gap in 
the mountain, and San Raphael, — a most beautiful 
spot. Soon after we came to Cannes, and our six hun- 
dred and fifty miles' ride from Paris was over, — a 
ride which none of us will soon forget. . . . 

To the Same. 

Nice, Jan. 11, 1884. 

. . . Our hotel, the West End, is situated on the 
Promenade des Anglais, which borders the sea for a 
mile and a half. This promenade is a thing of beauty ; 
it lies on a bluff about twenty-five feet above the sea. 
First there is a hedge five feet thick, with openings 
every hundred feet to the sea ; then the promenade, 
thirty feet wide ; then a space sixteen feet wide, full 
of palms and other tropical trees ; then a broad car- 
riage road ; then a sidewalk ; then gardens, about 
fifty feet wide ; then hotels and villas, the full length. 
From ten to four o'clock this promenade is literally 
packed with people and carriages, and is a beautiful 
sight to behold. 

Nice is situated on Angels' Bay, and well deserves 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. . , 279 

the name. Imagine a quarter-moon, the points run- 
ning out to sea a long distance, the base resting on 
land, and rising in every direction, and you have Nice. 
The bay is ten miles across ; the points are mountains 
or very high hills, which encircle the town, leaving a 
level space for the city. The surf is about the same 
as Atlantic City, and as I write I hear the roar as it 
comes up on the beautiful pebbly beach. It seems 
strange to be living on the shores of the Mediterranean, 
and to feel we are in a city dating back so long before 
Christ was on the earth. At home we have to imagine 
a gap of fifteen hundred years after his coming before 
our country was settled. . . . 

To the Same. 

Genoa, Italy, Jan. 15, 1884. 
After this long date you will almost think we are 
lost, and you would really think so if you could see us 
to-night in our vast rooms in this old palace ; for really 
we are in an ancient Italian palace, which has de- 
scended to a hotel. We arrived here this evening 
about seven o'clock, after an all day's ride, having left 
Nice at eight thirty this morning. The distance is 
only one hundred and twenty miles, but over the most 
marvellous railway. The trains run slowly on account 
of the danger from any great speed. The road bor- 
ders the sea, but the nature of the mountains along 



280 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 



the shore made the building of it a wonderful piece of 
engineering. We passed through only ninety-two tun- 
nels, great cuts and embankments, at times running 
along the edge of the mountains, sticking on like flies 
on the wall. We would rush through an immense 
long tunnel, and emerge into a most beautiful cove, 
with its city or village, its orange trees, its lemons and 
olives ; while in the background not twenty miles off we 
could see the Alps covered with snow. . . . Strange 
was the feeling as we wended our way through our first 
Italian city. We were immediately struck by the 
crowds of people, the rush of business, and the sub- 
stantial character of the buildings. We found the 
streets in most cases very narrow ; in many cases no 
sidewalks, but a general mingling of people and car- 
riages, intermingled with trucks and carts loaded and 
drawn by mules tandem, two, three, and more in a 
string, the hoarse cries of the drivers, and the sharp 
snap of their whips making music of a startling char- 
acter. The people looked well and happy, and strange 
as it may seem, looked more American in dress and 
manner than the Parisians. 

Genoa is a large city ; its beautiful harbour is full of 
shipping. Directly across the street from the rear of 
our hotel is a row of warehouses encircling the piers 
for half a mile ; they are only about forty feet high, 
so that we look over them. The tops, or roof, is a 
promenade laid in solid masonry floors fifty feet wide. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 281 

It is a splendid idea. We walked back and forth a 
long time this morning, looking at the busy scene on 
the docks, and the shipping, while in the distance 
across the harbour we could see the high hills, crowned 
with forts and fortifications. The exteriors of the 
palaces and churches we have visited are all ugly, 
while the interiors are beautiful. The Balbi Palace 
and the Church of the Annunciation are so full of 
beauty that we shall dream of them for many a 
day. . . . 

To the Same. 

Pisa, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 20, 1884. 

. . . The days here are warm and sunny, while 
the nights are real cold. The people live outdoors in 
the day-time. Here we begin to meet Italian beggars, 
but not in great numbers. A soldi is the usual gift ; 
but there is one class of beggars worthy of particular 
mention. A society or club composed of the most 
wealthy and important citizens, organised to take care 
of the poor and sick, volunteer to take turns begging 
through the streets. They dress in the most sombre 
manner, all in black, with a girdle around the loins, 
wearing a black mask with eye holes. Their appear- 
ance is very singular, and makes you think of the old 
inquisitors. They hold out a collection box in one 
hand, and constantly doff their broad-brimmed hats 
with the other. The young people and children are 

36 



282 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

very handsome, but age dims the good looks. The 
people are polite and dress well. We are all pleased 
with Italy and the Italians. . . . 



To the Same. 

Rome, Jan. 22, 1884. 
It is with a wonderful feeling of interest and rev- 
erance that I write " Rome " at the commencement of 
this letter. We are at last in our wanderings at the 
Eternal City, the capital of the World, in the very 
streets where Paul and Peter laboured and preached to 
the Romans eighteen centuries ago. From the top of 
Monte Pincio, where I wandered off alone this splendid 
afternoon, I have seen Rome unrolled as a scroll at 
my feet. St. Peter's in its grand majesty, the Pan- 
theon, and the innumerable towers were all spread 
before me. Way off across the Tiber I caught glimp- 
ses of the Campagna ; at the left was the Quirinal ; 
on the right, the Monte Mario ; while directly below 
was the Piazza del Popolo, with its beautiful foun- 
tains and figures. From this diverges the celebrated 
street, the Corso. It was just sunset, and as the 
fiery ball descended behind the dome of St. Peter's, 
and the evening sun cast weird rays over Rome, and 
towers and domes were lighted in golden yellow, 
I could but feel that Rome was worth the long 
pilgrimage. I descended from the mountain with 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 283 

feelings which I cannot describe, but which will live 
with me all my days. . . . 

Rome is blessed with a great abundance of the 
purest water ; fountains greet you at every turn. In 
the great Piazzas, on the street corners, up the sides 
of the hills, water spurts out of dragons' mouths. 
In the parks, gods and goddesses are sporting in the 
sparkling water. On the top of Pincio was a foun- 
tain beautiful as a dream. Water bright, water every- 
where. What a canny feeling it gives one to wander 
in the streets of a strange city and not know the way, 
and not care! But before we leave we shall be able 
to talk and understand Italian a little. . . . 

If you could read the impress on my heart and 
brain, you could get a faint idea of the beauty, the 
richness, the simplicity, and the grandeur of this tomb 
of Saint Peter. . . . Look at the most beautiful piece of 
marble statuary you can find, note the exquisite chis- 
elling, the beautiful artistic lines, and such is the whole 
of this vast interior. The floor, the sides, the ceiling, 
the columns, all marble, but of all colors. Thousands 
of figures adorn the walls, the pictures mosaic, and 
the most vivid colors. There are no seats and no 
pulpits. The light was soft and mellow, and the 
interior was well warmed. 

The Cologne Cathedral is a temple of God, so beau- 
tiful that it might well stand in the golden streets of 
the New Jerusalem ; St. Peter's has no outward beauty, 



284 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

but the interior is lovely enough to be the abode of 
angels. As I stood, entranced with its beauty, I could 
almost imagine bright shining ones flitting through 
its space. 

We stayed a long time, and then drove home by the 
massive old Pantheon, and the Fountain of Trevi. 
This fountain runs a whole river of sparkling water ; 
it is immense, and a thing to dream of, its beauty is 
so great. The water bubbles up, it runs over, it spurts 
out of rocks, — in hundreds of places the water comes 
forth, all supported by a massive background of white 
marble. Skilful artists designed it, skilful and cun- 
ning workmen completed it, and this fountain has 
flowed night and day since twenty-five years before 
Christ came to this earth. . . . 

To Charles J. Fisk. 

Rome, Jan. 28, 1884. 
.... Whenever I think of coming back and taking 
up the loads again, it makes me tired. I do so wish 
No. 5 was in condition to square up everything, — 
don't you, my Charlie boy ? You and Eddie have been 
having your hands full since I left, and can appreciate 
somewhat what responsibility is, and how it tires. Am 
glad Pliny is with you : you boys must stick together. 
I am getting to be the old man of the concern. . . . We 
love to hear of our dear little grandchildren, and love 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 285 

them as our own. Your Lil is a treasure, and worth 
a mint of money. Can you believe I am in Rome 
writing a home letter, which gives me more pleasure 
than to own St. Peter's ? 



To Harvey Edward Fisk and Mary Lee Fisk. 

Rome, Feb. 1, 1884. 

If any two loved ones have been much thought of 
in this venerable old city it has been you two. I know 
how much you enjoy a ramble together, and of all 
places in the world this would give you rambles such 
as you never dreamt of. Eddie's big eyes would grow 
bigger, and Mary for once would be so sober that her 
laugh would not be heard. While it is a city of the 
living, and a very thrifty, enterprising people, it is 
more a city of the dead past ; and in wandering you 
would feel the ghosts of the old Caesars and of the 
old Romans with you, and hand in hand they would 
be with you in all the old palaces and places. Rome 
is Rome, and no other city in the wide world is like 
unto it. It grows on you, it grows into you, it envelops 
you ; you walk with the dead. . . . You forget the 
present, and in imagination see Nero dancing while 
Rome is burning ; or you see Paul and the Christians 
in dire distress, and dying for Christ's sake. From 
any one of the seven hills you would look down on 
Rome in wonder. . . . 



286 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

The time is rolling around rapidly for our return, 
and while I want to see you all once more, I do dread 
taking up the burden. I have almost forgotten C. & 0. 
and Rockaway and Central Pacific and all other loads. 

To Pliny Fisk. 

Rome, Feb. 1, 1884. 

The other day I was in the centre of the old Col- 
iseum, and gazing around with mouth wide-open on 
its old walls, and thinking of the martyrs being 
" chawed" up by the wild animals, when clear as a bell 
I heard your chuckling merry laugh. Instantly the 
scene dissolved, — the beasts ran into their dens, the 
old Roman gladiators disappeared, the audience dis- 
persed, and once more I was in this day and genera- 
tion. The laugh did me good, even if it did come 
from a descendant of old Cassius or Caesar who was 
chuckling over an unexpected soldi. 

You would have enjoyed every step of our trip from 
Paris ; it has been all the way so new and novel. 
The hotels have been excellent, and each city has 
possessed so much to charm and please that the dis- 
tance has seemed small. . . . 

Florence, Feb. 3, 1884. 
My dear Boys, — We left Rome yesterday morning, 
arriving here about seven o'clock evening. . . . The 
distance is two hundred miles ; and while the trains 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 287 

run slowly, there is a great degree of comfort in the 
feeling of perfect safety. . . . 

Most of the Italian villages and cities are built on 
top of high hills, or way up on the sides of the moun- 
tains, and have a very picturesque appearance. The 
people look happy and contented. We are situated on 
the banks of the Arno, with a southern exposure, and 
get the sun in our rooms all day long. . . . Now we 
will go back to Rome, and leave this beautiful city for 
future letters. 

Our first visit Monday morning was to the Vatican, 
for which we had to have special passes. We entered 
between the sturdy, grim Swiss guards, passed through 
a noble hall, up one hundred and twenty-five stone 
steps, into the picture galleries : here we stayed a long- 
time, viewing the paintings, all of them of a religious 
character ; then into the Sistine Chapel ; then into the 
statue galleries, where we wandered about two hours. 
Such a collection of old marbles, most of them dug out 
of ruins, cannot be seen elsewhere in the world ; but 
they are possessed of no special merit otherwise. The 
live people amused me, and gave me more real interest. 
The loud talk of the English, the liquid sweet Italian, 
the guttural German, the lively French, and the quiet 
words of the Americans, all talking as you passed 
them, was very interesting. Then the stolid, unin- 
teresting look of the guards, the pompous door-keepers, 
the grin over the pourboires as they felt them in 



288 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

their fat hands, — all this, coupled with the feeling 
that we were in the Pope's residence, and in the very 
heart of Popedom, made a strange medley in one's 
feelings, and I was glad to get out of it into strong 
sunlight again. 

Another morning we rode way out on the Appian 
Way, and we all agreed that when Satan leaves Rome, 
the old fellow should be marched over the Appian Way, 
as, if the jolts and jars and curses of the mule-drivers 
did not kill him before he got to Capua, the smells 
would make him think Hades a pleasant place to live 
in the rest of his days, — and thus the poor world 
would be delivered ! Still, we saw much to be remem- 
bered. The old Roman aqueducts, the ruins of the 
old baths, which covered one hundred and fifty thou- 
sand square feet, the old Roman circus, and so on 
and so forth. 

From day to day we went somewhere, visited 
churches, saw Romans, saints, and sinners, had a 
good time at the Capitoline museum, went again to 
the Coliseum and Forum, and ended up by some long 
walks. Rome is to us a familiar city, and under the 
rule of the good King Humbert is rapidly getting out of 
the grasp of Popery. I could but think of the short time 
ago when the Pope governed the world, when kings 
trembled on their thrones at his edicts ; and now his 
dominion is simply the Vatican and the large grounds 
attached to it, — about one hundred or two hundred 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 289 

acres. His spiritual power is still world-wide, but 
his temporal power is as dust and ashes ; and so the 
Lord is moving all things to carry out his purposes. 

I cannot say good-bye to Rome without a lingering 
gaze at it as Bertha and I saw it the last afternoon. 
About four o'clock we walked up on Monte Pincio to 
take our last look. The afternoon was beautiful. 
We stood on the summit, and, with the whole city at 
our feet all bathed in sunset, we said good-bye to each 
familiar tower and prominent object. Dear little B's 
face was full of enthusiasm, and as at last she said, 
" Good-bye, St. Peter's, good-bye, Monte Pincio," 
and, with a sweep of her little hand, " Good-bye, old 
Rome," I felt we were saying good-bye to many days 
which had been full of happiness. We slowly de- 
scended, and soon night spread its curtain over Rome, 
and in the morning we left. . . . 

To the Same. 

Florence, Feb. 10, 1884. 
. . . While Florence is a beautiful city, full of art 
treasures, palaces, and churches, it is not Rome, and 
it is impossible to wake up the same enthusiasm. 
Rome is the capital, the heart of Italy, and ever will 
be. Florence may become the art centre, though I 
doubt even that ; but Florence, as seen from the hills 
and mountains surrounding it, is lovely almost beyond 
description. . . . 

37 



290 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

Here let me remark that the Italian cities, as far 
as we have seen them, are uncommonly neat. The 
streets here, and at Rome, are always clean, even the 
back, narrow by-ways. The shopping streets are very 
fine, and with so many art stores full of pictures, 
statuary, mosaics, and other beautiful objects, it is a 
treat to look at them. The Pitti Palace, or royal 
residence when the King is here, — about two weeks 
in the year, — is a marvel of ugliness outside, and of 
beauty within. We spent nearly two hours going 
through it ; and it certainly is good enough for even 
King Humbert. . . . 

To the Same. 

Venice, Feb. 14, 1884. 

... Let me say that if we Americans had had a 
quarter of the difficulties to overcome in building rail- 
roads that the Italians have had, we should have only a 
quarter of the roads we now have. We left Florence, 
running along for ten miles at the foot of the Apen- 
nines, then we made a bold push at the mountains, 
and by a series of zigzags, tunnels, and viaducts, we 
crossed over them. It is one of the boldest and most 
skilful pieces of engineering in existence. As we 
neared the mountains, we could see far up, a thousand 
feet above us, a bridge ; above that a viaduct ; then 
way up above, what appeared to be a cut across the 
rocks. We stopped at a station at the foot ; the cars 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 291 

and fastenings were examined, another engine hitched 
on, the bells rang, the horns blew, the shrill cry of 
the guard, " Parteuse, parteuse," was heard along the 
platform, and we were off. They told us that those 
bridges and cuts we were to pass over. We climbed, 
we ran along the edge of the mountain, through tun- 
nel after tunnel, and at last, after a tunnel one and 
three-quarters miles long, reached the summit, and 
there stopped to breathe and take water. Then we 
slipped down the other side into a beautiful valley, and 
reached the old city of Bologna. B announced forty- 
three tunnels, in a distance of about thirty miles. . . . 

Did you ever go to an opera and hear the orchestra 
play some strange, wild, dreamy music that made 
you forget all else ? Such is Venice, — a city in the 
sea, — no horses, no carriages, no carts, no dogs, no 
dust, no mode of locomotion except boats. . . . 

As we returned from Lido to-day we had such a fine 
view of the whole city that all exclaimed, " Beautiful, 
beautiful ! " There was not a ripple on the water ; the 
sun shone warm and soft; great steamers, sailing ves- 
sels, and hundreds of gondolas could be seen in the 
distance, — our gondoliers, in their gay uniform, strik- 
ing the water with steady stroke, the only sound. No 
roar of a great city was to be heard, no smoke to mar 
the lovely city, which was so pure and white, — we 
dreamed our way home. . . . 



292 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To the Same. 

Milan, Sunday, Feb. 17, 1884. 
.... Now that our Italian trip is about over, we can 
look back to nothing but real fresh enjoyment from the 
morning we left Nice and plunged into those dark 
tunnels. We have travelled nearly across it from 
east to west and from north to south ; we have seen 
its happy people, its ruins, its palaces, its churches, 
its mountains, valleys, and plains, — superb Genoa, 
strange Pisa, enchanting Rome, gay Florence, lovely, 
dreamy Venice, and elegant Milan. Now we are 
ready to go into a colder country, and hope to see 
some snow and frost. We shall bid adieu to Italy 
with regret ; but none the less do we look ahead to the 
pleasure of being a few days in sturdy old Switzer- 
land, even in winter weather, and then on to Paris, 
which we expect to reach about March 1st. . . . 

To the Same. 

Geneva, Feb. 25, 1884. 
Our trip from Italy to Switzerland via the St. 
Gotthard Tunnel route is one never to be forgotten. 
Very few Americans take this journey through the 
Alps in the winter, and I must confess to some hesita- 
tion before deciding to bring Mamma and the children 
this way north ; but here we are, all well and happy, 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 293 

and all of us down to Eva vote it was one of the 
finest day's journeys since we landed on these foreign 
shores. 

We left Milan depot Tuesday morning at seven 
thirty ; shortly after, we turned to the right, and 
pointed directly to the mountains, which were about 
fifteen miles distant. As we first saw the huge 
heads high in the air, all white with snow, it gave us 
all a thrill of excitement. Soon we reached them, 
and then commenced the climb ; and for the next 
one hundred and thirty miles we were in the Alps. 
Such a ride and such a place for a railroad, such 
ups and downs and overs and unders, can be seen 
nowhere else. We soon got a look at Como ; twenty 
miles more, Lake Lugano ; and then up, up, through 
spiral tunnels, corkscrew tunnels, one over the other, 
long viaducts, bridges across ravines, until we reached 
the great tunnel, in the middle of which was our 
highest elevation, 3,785 feet above sea level, and 
3,400 feet above Milan. And here at the mouth of 
the tunnel, with deep snow all around us, as bright 
and beautiful a day as one ever saw, the air crisp 
and cold, we took our last look down the long way 
towards Italy, and set our faces for Switzerland. . . . 

The rest of twenty minutes, and a run up and 
down the platform in the cold mountain air, pre- 
pared us for the next sixteen miles, which were wild 
beyond description. So, down we went ; three cork- 



294 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

screw tunnels dropped us nearly four hundred feet, 
over gorges, clinging on the edge of the terrible Bris- 
tenstock, through tunnel after tunnel to avoid the 
avalanches, across bridges, over crevasses and gorges 
far below, — one bridge two hundred and fifty-six feet 
high, another one hundred and seventy-six feet, huge 
iron structures. So on and down we went until the 
Rigi came in sight ; and soon after we were housed 
in the beautiful Schweizerhof, on Lake Lucerne, and 
enjoying a good dinner. . . . 

To Charles J. Fish 

Paris, March 5, 1884. 

. . . You boys are all working up to your niche, 
and are becoming solid good business men. I want 
every boy to be considered a pillar for the N. B. H. 
whenever the time comes. As I am about twenty- 
five years younger than I was when you all bade me 
good-bye on the steamer, I shall be a boy with you 
for many years, 1 hope. . . . 

Your " pet brother " is very well ; he will be able 
to take charge of the foreign branch. He is coming 
on hand over hand, and is worthy of all your love. 
May and Eva and " B " are the nicest sisters any 
brother ever had, and all your loving commissions 
have been carried out. Mamma is bright and happy, 
and glad to be back safely in Paris. . . . 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 295 



To Pliny Fisk, Trenton, N. J. 

Paris, March 11, 1884. 

My dear Brother, — ... Now that we have re- 
turned from our Italian trip, we have settled down 
to rest for a few weeks, and are enjoying it much. 
The hotels here are far preferable to our own for 
families, being so much more private and homelike. 
One cannot enter a hotel here, walk all around, and 
go out without question ; they are like private houses. 
Our apartments are entirely distinct and separate ; it 
is really a home, even to a private dining-room, open- 
ing out from our parlour, being provided. The 
expense is about the same as a hotel in New York. 
We pay so much rent for our rooms, and eat when 
we please, paying separately. Any one can live very 
cheaply here in Paris, and in comfort. The cooking 
is generally excellent, although different from that at 
home. You and Ibbie would enjoy a French dinner 
amazingly ; come next Sunday at two o'clock and we 
will give you a lay-out and a bottle of rare old Bur- 
gundy, if you are so inclined. . . . 

I have found my early acquirements in French very 
valuable, and now have no trouble in getting along. 
My reading is entirely French books and papers. . . . 



296 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To Harvey Edward Fish 

Paris, March 17, 1884. 

. . . We have talked about you a great deal the 
past few days, as your twenty-seventh birthday is near 
at hand. Surely I must be getting to be an old man 
to have a boy that age ; but my boys keep me young ; 
for rarely have a father and mother such boys grow- 
ing into ripe manhood surrounding them. This long 
vacation, which has done me so much good, I never 
could have had but for my boys. I know it has im- 
posed great work and responsibility on you and 
Charlie, and I know you have not spared yourself in 
doing the increased work tumbled on you. The new 
firm is in my mind a great deal, yet as you well know, 
there are great obstacles at present in the way ; but 
another year may clear them all away. The old firm 
is twenty-two years old this month, and it must be on 
strong footing before any change can be made. We 
ought to reap a great reward out of C. & 0. after all 
our long waiting; but unless there is a large improve- 
ment before January 1 next, we may be obliged 
to dispose of some of our holdings to great dis- 
advantage. . . . 

P. S. Mamma says, and insists, that her " big 
boy's " next birthday is his twenty-eighth, so I shall 
have to back down from my twenty-seven. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 297 

London, March 27, 1884. 

My dear Boys, — At last my long sermons are 
approaching completion, for here we are back in Lon- 
don on our homeward journey. The remaining days 
will soon pass away, and the twenty -fourth of April 
will soon come, when we hope the good steamer 
" Germanic " will receive us on board, and quickly 
and safely take us to our loved country and the dear 
ones awaiting us. Then the doxology, which has been 
in the hearts of all of us both sides, can be sung as a 
fitting ending for the " My dear Boys' " letters. 

As I sit here this morning, thoughts of all our wan- 
derings will come over me. I have read over many 
of my letters ; I have again been in Paris, and way 
north to Amsterdam, and far south to Rome, and all 
the way I can still see the bright anticipations ahead 
of us and the loving hearts behind us, following our 
every step. These anticipations have been more than 
realised, and the prayers of the loving hearts have 
been close up to us, and now we are safely here in 
great London. . . . 

Since arriving here the weather has been cold, foggy, 
and disagreeable ; still, we have done considerable 
sight-seeing, and hope to do much more. London 
may be a much better city than Paris, it may have a 
higher standard in religion and morals, it may do more 
good the world over, its aristocracy may not be eating 

38 



298 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

out the hearts of the people, its charities may not be 
ostentatious, its people may be free enough, — but 
with all, it is cold and foggy and damp and musty 
with old age. Paris and France may be all froth, 
but one thing is sure, all England and all Europe are 
jealous of the bright young Republic. There is a lit- 
tle comedy playing in the Soudan which may cost 
England dear, — but I won't write longer on this dry 
subject. 

Monday we went out to the Crystal Palace, and it 
would have done Eddie's eyes good to have seen the 
thousands and thousands of neat little homes for work- 
men in the outskirts of London. The houses are 
brick, small but very pretty, each with a little gar- 
den in the rear. . . . 

London is quite exercised over the dynamite ques- 
tion, and all public buildings are well guarded. I 
passed Buckingham Palace, the Queen's town resi- 
dence, this afternoon, and the soldiers literally sur- 
rounded it, all fully armed. . . . 

To the Same. 

London, April 6, 1884. 

Perhaps you may think it strange when I tell you 

I shall be sorry when the last letter is written. In 

these letters I have lived over again the happy days 

we have had since we landed on these shores, and 



LETTERS OE HARVEY FISK. 299 

therefore the enjoyment has been great in writing 
them. You have been with me all the way. As far 
as I could, I have tried to make vivid to you all I have 
seen and heard and felt. 

But now comes London, — and what can I tell you 
that you do not already know ? You have heard of 
Westminster Abbey, of the Tower of London, the 
Bank of England, the British Museum, of Hyde Park, 
of Rotten Row, of Spurgeon, of Newman Hall. You 
have been told that London has nearly five million 
inhabitants, some six thousand streets, over eleven 
thousand cabs, hundreds of churches, and thousands of 
shops. You know it is a dirty, smoky city at its best. 
Everything is on a grand scale. It is no place to rest, 
like Paris, — the very air makes you restless. At 
first it was a great tangle, but now it is all clear to 
us. . . . Several pleasant afternoons I have taken a 
penny seat in Hyde Park, and rested, looking at the 
crowds of horses, carriages, pedestrians and eques- 
trians, all sorts, all kinds, mostly ugly, stiff, and for- 
mal, — the people I mean, not the horses ; they are 
fine. The dogs are handsome ; the English people 
run on dogs and horses. Rotten Row is a feature. 
It is about one hundred feet wide, and about a mile 
long. Up and down this space I have seen at least 
five hundred equestrians at one time, and they do 
ride beautifully, both ladies and gentlemen ; it is a 
great sight. . . . 



300 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

One fine morning last week, after the awful suffer- 
ing of sundry chops, salmon steaks, eggs, muffins, and 
coffee, we loaded into beautiful landaus. . . . Soon we 
reached the Thames, crossed on the beautiful suspen- 
sion bridge, and at once turned into Battersea Park. 
We were out of smoke and dust and dirt, and suddenly 
were ushered into a piece of the Garden of Eden. It 
lies on the banks of the river, and this noble Park 
was a dreary, dismal swamp only a few years ago. 
Here commenced our spree, for we drank ourselves full 
of sweet air, glorious sunshine, beauty and loveliness, 
— it made us drunk all day. We laughed, we crowed, 
we felt rich, we loved the poor, — for was not this all 
done for them ? and was I not gladdened the very 
next morning to read in the papers Eddie sent that 
New York was going to make noble additions to her 
Park system ? Across the river we saw a noble 
block of buildings, erected by Sydney H. Water- 
low, — once a poor boy, — houses for the poor as 
beautiful as a palace. But at this rate we shall be 
in Battersea Park all day. 

We drove out of the park, then through Battersea, 
with its miles and miles of beautiful little houses, 
mostly two stories, with cunning little bay-windows ; 
houses for working men, for clerks, for clean, nice 
people. Then into Wadsworth Avenue, broad with 
beautiful trees and countless villas each side ; then 
Wadsworth, with another succession of those small 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 301 

houses. I wanted to buy an acre or two of them to take 
home. Then suddenly we were on Wimbledon Com- 
mon, of international shooting fame, — a vast waste 
of thousands of acres, but with a splendid road across 
it. Here is where Robin Hood exacted his tribute, 
and we could well imagine that he and his brigands 
were still lurking behind the furze brush. After two 
or three miles we reached a stately gate, and wheel- 
ing through we were in Richmond Park. And here 
at the gate I must stop a minute to whittle up my 
descriptive powers, — that is, my pencil. 

Richmond Park comprises a little over three thou- 
sand acres, and of what old oak trees, real English 
oaks, such a royal sight we had never seen, — heaven's 
umbrellas. We were just full ; we had to cry halt. 
We got out, we ran, we whistled, we saw our dreams 
of beauty-land. I paced around one old fellow, — 
twenty -five feet as sure as I 'm a sinner. But time 
was passing, we had much to do, and so we loaded up 
again, and on and on through the oaks until we 
reached Richmond Hill, and there was a noble hotel 
called the " Star and Garter." We stopped, sent our 
horses to the stable, entered the hotel, were ushered 
into a cosey room, and ordered a lunch. Now, boys, 
stars are good if you don't get them by a bump on 
the head, and garters, — well garters are only to be 
spoken of seriously ; but you put a star and garter 
lunch into your stomach, and you might bless the 



302 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

Lord for them both ! . . . . We drove through Rich- 
mond on our homeward ride, then on to the Kew Gar- 
dens. Oh, dear, my beautifuls and lovelies and 
splendids are all used up, — what shall I say ! This is 
the great botanical garden of England ; I could have 
spent a week there, — it is simply and purely enchant- 
ing. Every tree and plant which will grow outdoors 
is there ; great big glass houses hold those which will 
not. The grounds are sacred ; no smoking, even, is 
allowed. We came away sobered with beauty. Then 
on through beautiful avenues, blocks, and miles of small 
houses, great nursery gardens, then Holland House 
Park, then the Kensington Garden, the Albert Hall, 
the Monument, Hyde Park, then the Army and Navy 
Hotel, and our day was done. The drivers went away 
happy, we were happy, Auguste was happy, and Sir 
Richard borrowed a jack-screw to get the grin off his 
happy face. Now never forget London parks, and 
how much good parks can do. . . . 

We went to hear and see Mary Anderson at the 
Lyceum, and Lotta at the Comique, and the boys went 
to see Minnie Palmer ; as you know, all Americans. 
They are all good. I fell in love with Mary A., and if 
she ever wants a father she has only to say so. . . . 

When people come to London they go to church to 
gratify curiosity. That is one reason we went ; but 
we came away fuller than we went, — not of curiosity, 
but of living words of Christ. Christ Church on 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 303 

Westminster Bridge Road is Newman Hall's. He is 
a large, powerful man ; full of Christ, there is no doubt 
of it: you feel it. He is doing a noble work. Then 
we went to Spurgeon's. What a temple that is, and 
what a living, burning minister of Christ he is ! Six 
thousand people hang on his preaching. It did us 
good. How they sang, and how he prayed ! London 
is vast. 

To the Same. 

Leamington, April 14, 1884. 
. . . This part of England has been written about, 
and sung about, and talked about so much that it 
must be in some degree familiar to you. Then, again, 
Pliny and Mamie were here last October, and they no 
doubt have told you much of their visit ; and also 
Charlie, I believe, was here. So it remains for me to 
pick up the leavings, and make them as interesting 
as I can ; for it is a glorious old county, this county 
of Warwickshire, and woven around and in it and 
through it is found much of old England's history. I 
am not very enthusiastic, I care very little for crowns 
and titles and all that, and there is something musty 
about the history of most of the old kings, queens, 
and nobles of England. Through blood and turmoil 
and distress was this country prepared to be the most 
powerful on earth. The reign of Queen Victoria has 
been a period of prosperity and happiness, but her 
death will be the signal for change hard to foretell. . . . 



304 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 



To the Same. 

Liverpool, April 18, 1884. 

The cable has just gone to Charlie for you 
all, — " We are here, all well, Papa." If this conveys 
to you the same degree of thankfulness with which I 
sent it, then you will be happy indeed. Thoughts of 
our long travels since we first landed here come crowd- 
ing into my mind ; of how w T e have been watched over 
and taken care of, of our thousands of miles of travels, 
of our good health and strength and happiness all the 
way ; and here we are back again with only a few 
remaining days before we set sail for home. . . . When 
safely landed with our dear boys and girls once more, 
we shall have travelled some eleven thousand miles, 
without counting the hundreds of miles of carriage 
drives, and with our little ones and big ones again 
back here safely, — ought we not all to be very thank- 
ful ? A silver chain of safety has brightened all our 
way. We have gained in health and wisdom and 
knowledge. We have seen so many countries, so 
many people of different nations. We know there 
is a world outside of our own country, but our love for 
our own land has only been strengthened, and now 
we are ready for home once more. . . . 

One and all of us send kisses to you and yours, and 
may God bless and keep you ever and ever. These 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 305 

letters are all love tokens, and this last is so full it 
must envelop and embrace you with a love so strong 
that a little of it will come back to your dear Papa. 



Office of Fisk & Hatch, No. 5 Nassau Street, 
New York, May 15, 1884. 

To our Depositors and other Creditors : 

It is with great sorrow that we are obliged to 
announce to you our suspension, which has been 
brought about by a combination of circumstances. 

The long-continued decline in the market prices of 
securities, even the very best, accompanied by a 
general weakening of confidence in financial matters, 
together with a heavy drainage of deposits, are the 
principal causes of our unfortunate position. 

We can only request those having claims against 
us to extend to us such consideration and indulgence 
as we may need, and it may be in their power to grant. 

Very truly, 

Fisk & Hatch. 



New York, May 18, 1884. 

My dear Children, Wilbur and May, — It will 
do you good, I know, to see that dear old Papa is alive, 
and to hear from him direct that he is well, strong, 
and keeps up a brave heart. 

39 



306 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

Fisk & Hatch have taken hold with courage to un- 
ravel their affairs, find the bottom of all troubles, and 
do not intend to lie down in despair or give up the 
good old ship without a big fight. At present the 
shaft is broken, there is a fierce head wind, with a 
tremendous sea, and the ship rolls in all sorts of ways ; 
but we are not sea-sick, our appetites are good, and 
with fair winds we shall come into port with our flag 
at mast head. When the good old " Germanic " 
pitched and tossed around so lively I did not expect 
to come into a fiercer gale on shore : it was unex- 
pected, and therefore the shock all the greater ; but 
we have met with nothing but the deepest sympathy. 
None of our creditors has given us the slightest 
trouble, except the abominable lies of the Newark 
people, and they will soon realise that every blow 
struck at us is only a dagger thrust to themselves. 
Now don't worry over newspaper talk ; in the end you 
will see F. & H. fully vindicated. You are doing your 
share to help me, the boys are working nobly here, 
Mamma is brave as a lion, and even dear Bee and 
little Eva try to do all they can, while I am real well, 
and able to stand hard work. Mamma will keep you 
fully posted, and another week may make a great 
change for the better. . . . 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 307 

Office of Fisk & Hatch, No. 5 Nassau Street, 
New York, June 2, 1884. 

To our Customers and Correspondents : 

We take very great pleasure in announcing that 
we have this day resumed business. 

We are sure that you will all share with us the 
satisfaction we feel in making this announcement. 

We would express to our depositors our grateful 
appreciation of the forbearance which they have 
shown, and thank them for the implicit trust which 
they have manifested. 

We cannot let this opportunity pass without ex- 
pressing our sincere thanks to our many friends 
throughout the country who have extended to us the 
warm hand of friendship and the expression of their 
sympathy and confidence. 

Our business re-opens at our old address as above, 
and we shall be glad to continue as heretofore the 
relations with our customers, correspondents and de- 
positors, which have proved so satisfactory to us in 
the past. 

Very truly, 

Fisk & Hatch. 



308 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 



HARVEY FISK & SONS 

will open their office, No. 28 Nassau Street (Mutual 
Life Building), New York City, on Thursday, March 
26th, for the transaction of a General Banking Busi- 
ness ; also dealings in Government Bonds and other 
Investment Securities. 

Harvey Fisk, 
Harvey Edward Fisk, 
Charles J. Fisk, 
Pliny Fisk, 



composing the firm of 

Address : 
P. O. Box 235. 



HARVEY FISK & SONS. 



To May L. Fisk. 

Sunday Evening, Aug. 2, 1885. 

Your letter was a pleasant surprise. Because why ? 
It was beautifully written, not a mistake or blot or 
scratch, and also the composition was excellent ; but 
more than all it was from my dear daughter May, and 
full of love. Letter-writing is an accomplishment 
possessed by few. Letters should talk, should tell the 
story, and then stop. When any one can get over 
trying to write a good letter, it is a long step in ad- 
vance. Letters are for business, for daily doings, 
expressions of love, and whatever is of interest ; when 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 309 

these topics are exhausted, to try and make a long 
letter by writing about the Afghans proves a failure. 
Your letter was good, and sometime I hope for an- 
other. . . . 

What you say about Central Park as a burying 
ground quite met my views ; but it has been happily 
settled by the selection that has been made. There 
will be a great outpouring on the day of the funeral. 
[U. S. Grant.] At last the " City " is deserted, but I 
went over into Third Avenue Saturday evening, and 
the crowd was so great I could hardly get along, — 
men, women and children, old and young, tramps, 
roughs, nice people, shoppers, bundles and baskets, — 
I quite enjoyed the sight. 

To Harvey Edward Fisk. 

Maplewood, Aug. 16, 1885. 
Your letter, received yesterday, was very welcome, 
as all your letters are. Since being here in our quiet 
cottage, among these grand old mountains, I have 
thought a great deal of you and my boys, associated 
now with me in business as partners. You cannot 
realise the comfort of having such boys, so trusty and 
capable. Soon you will have to bear all the burdens 
of business. More and more I shall trust you, and 
leave to you the guidance of the business. The past 
few years have been full of trials which have made 



310 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

me very cautious ; too cautious, perhaps, for a prosper- 
ous business. 

Prosperity elates me more than formerly, while ad- 
versity or business not going as I could wish, unduly 
oppresses me, and makes me timid about any new 
move. 

Having so little left for Mamma and the children 
makes me fearful of even what is left. I know my 
courage in the past to do everything right has been 
great ; but the hard knocks of the past ten years, 
coupled with the last, has had its effect. I am will- 
ing, and Mamma the same, to put what is left at the 
service of our boys, with hopes that they can and will 
use it well. If the last trouble had taken only all I 
possessed, and not the careful savings of years laid by 
for Mamma and the little ones, I should not have 
grieved a moment ; but the sacrifice was necessary, 
and while I grieve I do not murmur. . . . 

Sometimes I feel oppressed about myself and the 
future, then again I am unusually hopeful and cheer- 
ful. Sometimes I am strong, then lose heart and am 
weak. But all the time my boys are such a comfort. 

| To the Same. 

Maplewood, N. H., Aug. 22, 1885. 
... I am thinking about the business a very 
great deal. We must keep in a strong position, and 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 311 

never get ourselves in a situation where we should 
have to ask favours of any one. It is better to feel 
that we are working for a good living than to be 
reaching out all the time grasping for a fortune ; the 
fortune will come with time and patience. . . . 



To the Same. 

Maplewood, Aug. 31, 1885. 

. . . The rain is pouring in torrents ; still it is nice 
and pleasant here in our cottage, with roaring wood 
fires in the open grates, and it is just the morning to 
write letters. 

Thoughts of the business are on my mind a great 
deal. What can be done to increase it, and how can 
we go about it ? Trading in securities is legitimate 
and profitable on a rising market, but it causes 
anxiety and care on a dull and falling market ; 
still it is a branch to be fostered within safe limits. 
The commission business is slow, and will take time 
to build it up to a large, paying basis ; that we must 
work for, but the habit of trading direct has become 
so general that it cuts into it very much. One branch 
of our business is legitimate banking, and there is no 
limit to the increase, — that is, receiving deposits, 
and using the money safely at a slight profit to our- 
selves. All bankers abroad allow interest, as do 
nearly all the banks ; it is considered proper and good 



312 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

banking. No " Banker " ought to speculate at all ; 
real banking is with credit and capital to secure the 
use of other people's money, and use it safely at a 
profit : see the Savings Banks and Trust Companies 
in New York. The name " bank " invites confi- 
dence, — why cannot " bankers " also, and even 
more ? Making money this way is slow but sure. 
How can we get about it to increase this branch ? 

Then, foreign exchange and letters of credit are 
truly legitimate banking. This branch we must 
earnestly look into.. It would require from 2,000 to 
5,000 pounds in London, and from 20,000 to 50,000 
francs in Paris, all the time, and this would be profit- 
able use of deposits. Also in this profits would be 
slow but sure. Negotiating loans is entirely legiti- 
mate, but requires great caution. Collecting notes 
and drafts for merchants and others is entirely legiti- 
mate, but only as an adjunct to secure the business of 
country banks is it at all profitable. 

Paying and collecting coupons and dividends for 
corporations and others is legitimate, and in time can 
be made to add to the profits. 

Dealing in specie and foreign coins is legitimate, 
and can be made profitable. 

To a certain extent I am the figure-head and ad- 
viser of the firm ; you boys are the workers. To suc- 
ceed, the workers should be heart and soul in the 
business, enthusiastic and earnest ; nothing, early, 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 313 

late, or at any time, to be of more importance than 
the business. Work together with utter confidence 
and good feeling, rejoice in each other's success in 
increasing the business. 

Success brings success. Keep every one and your- 
selves busy at something. Don't even talk dull times. 
Appear busy. 

Capital. Within a few months Mamma and I hope 
to scrape enough together to bring the capital up to 
a round 1200,000. 

Expenses. Personal and business, keep down as 
low as possible. 

Work. Day and night and all the time, except 
resting vacations, for the next two years, — years of 
probation and preliminary work. 

Independence. Perfect independence in building 
up the business in any way we feel to be right, with- 
out regard to what others may think. 

Advertising. To a certain extent, in a very few of 
the best papers in New York, may be wise and judi- 
cious. 

Circulars, printed. None on general business; all 
right for special lot of bonds, or special subject. 

Letters or personal talks much the best. New York 
City is our own tramping ground, also the whole 
state. 

Private accounts much better than firms or corpor- 
ations. Could we not get the names of every retired 

40 



314 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

capitalist in the city, and write them first ; also the 
names of active capitalists, the names of wealthy 
firms, not borrowers, and go to work at them ? . . . 



To May L. Fisk. 

Riverside, Sunday, Feb. 7, 1886. 
. . . It is so quiet and restful here. We are hidden 
away in our own beautiful home. When we came out, 
Saturday week, it was only to be away until the fol- 
lowing Monday. I thought I ought not and could 
not be spared longer. We arrived at Grandpa's about 
one o'clock, and found a warm welcome and good din- 
ner awaiting us. We were hungry. Roast turkey 
and "fixin's" disappeared rapidly. After dinner we 
all came down to Riverside ; the next morning we 
had breakfast early, and all came down to Riverside ; 
went back to dinner, and again all came down to River- 
side. By that time we were all wishing to stay, and so 
decided. Monday morning down we came, and soon 
Mamma had all hands at w r ork. Eva and I swept the 
big hall, Bee dusted, Maggie made beds, Delia came 
over to cook until Jane could come, Mike went after 
provisions. Such a hungry " flat " dinner we did 
have about two o'clock ! Mamma cooked it, as Delia 
could not stay until Mike got back with a little girl to 
look after her babies. A "flat" dinner w T as a juicy 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 315 

steak, cooked to a turn, mealy potatoes, turnips, bread, 
butter, tea, etc., etc. After dinner, all hard at work 
again, and before bed-time we were in comfortable 
shape. 

You remember how cold it was, but the next 
day Eva, Bee and I had grand fun in the snow, and 
then such appetites and good sleeps, and quiet restful 
hours to read and be lazy ! And so the days have 
passed away. 

The big snow-storm was a great diversion. The 
roads all drifted full, so that many times we had to 
drive in the fields ; but it was fun. Yesterday, Wilbur 
and I drove over to Princeton ; in some places the 
drifts were immense, then it would be bare ground 
where the wind had blown away all the snow, then 
through fields in the ditches, — but we enjoyed it 
all. After selecting Wilbur's room, we drove home, 
and at four o'clock a hungry crowd marched into the 
dining-room. Imagine ! 

To-day is so beautiful, — the pure white snow 
covers everything. It is just hazy enough to deaden 
the sun's rays, it is just warm enough to make out- 
door air so delightful. You ought to see little Eva 
climb around in the snow, her dear little face shining 
with happiness. She wants to be out all the time ; 
and Bertha, in her stately way, enjoys it just as much, 
and Papa is the big boy to be pounded. Mamma is 
happy as can be. 



316 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

It is so long since I have been at Riverside with any 
peace of mind, such terrible gales have blown over me, 
such struggling in the breakers, so tired, — tired day 
and night, — that this little rest seems like a glimpse 
of Paradise. We wonder sometimes what in reality 
this life is for : to enjoy the life to come, must we be 
knocked around in this ? We as a family have seen 
so much happiness, have had so many blessings with 
our troubles, that we can afford to be knocked around 
a little. I am naturally of a very happy disposition, 
and always try to look on the bright side, and I think 
we all do ; but nevertheless, a dip in black, slimy, 
oozing mud, and being rolled over in it, is slightly un- 
comfortable. I hope to be able to throw off all my 
tired feelings, and be spared to you all for many 
years ; but if I do not, or cannot, then it is all for the 
best. My life has been one long dream. . . . 

Every once in a while I look out of my window at 
the beautiful white snow and the lovely evergreens, — 
not a breath of wind blowing, not a sound to be heard, 
stillness everywhere. So often I think of dear Deede, 
and how she loved Riverside. Her sweet face I can 
see ; and now she is wandering and waiting for us in 
her new beautiful home, sweeter than ever. Eva 
came in the other morning after a long run and play 
in the snow, and wanted to go right out again ; her 
face was red, her eyes sparkling. She said, " It 's 
wasting air to stay in the house." 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 317 

My dear daughter, do you know, do you realise, 
that your next, your near approaching birthday you 
will be sixteen ? How time passes by ! So well do I 
remember the day you came to us, our happiness, the 
happiness of the boys ; how we named you, and how 
careful I was that every one should call you " May " ; 
and to think that my baby girl, the first baby to be 
brought to Riverside, is now almost sixteen years old ! 
You have retained the same sweet disposition ; you 
have had your trials, you are a comfort to us all. 
May blessings strew all your pathway ! . . . 



At Sea, Sunday, March 21, 1886. 

My dear Boys, — You can imagine with what feel- 
ings I commence another series of letters to " My 
dear Boys." Again I am on the wide ocean, again 
you are doubly dear to me, again my heart fills to 
overflowing with love as I think of you all, so far 
away. The weary days and nights when at last I felt 
it was duty to go, the hope that something would 
prevent, the morning of sailing, when a dull apathy 
seemed to have taken possession of me, — are all now 
in the past. I am here on the ocean. I now feel it 
is all for the best, and shall do everything I can to 
cast off the load of remembrance of the bitter days 
of 1884. 

To keep the chain complete in these letters I must 



318 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

start from New York. When this noble ship left the 
dock, I felt as if some terrible monster had got me 
in his grasp, and was bearing me away. There was 
no sense of novelty or excitement about it, — go 
I must. . . . 

To the Same. 

Paris, March 27, 1886. 

Paris, — beautiful dreamy Paris, — what can I say 
about it ? No longer a stranger to us, we seem a part 
of it. Are we really here? May, Bee, and I had a 
vision this morning of such peace and quietness as we 
strolled through the Tuileries and Champs Elysees, 
the air soft and mild, — so springlike. In a few 
days we shall be settled in our apartments, adopt 
some routine of daily living, and then can picture to 
you more vividly " our home.". . . 

Yesterday was Eddie's birthday, and just as we 
landed on the French shore, — our long journey 
across waters safely ended, — and as we were leaving 
Boulogne, we gave three rousing cheers for Eddie. 
As soon as we arrived we cabled him, and this morn- 
ing received his " thirty kisses." As I look back 
the long way down those thirty steps, and see again 
the bright blessed morning that brought us our first 
baby boy, I cannot but feel thankful, not only for this 
dear boy, but also for all the rest who are such a 
comfort to me now. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 319 

Mamma has just been splendid all the way over. 
When stormy, she was happy. When quiet, she was 
happy. When I had a touch of the dumps, you might 
have thought she had had a present of a castle in 
Spain. On deck, in the cabin, she was always 
happy. . . . 

To the Same. 

Paris, April 20, 1886. 

. . . Yesterday T had a double grinder " yanked " 
out of my head by Dr. Seymour, who is long of twenty 
francs and I am short of an acher, much to my relief. 

Paris is still Paris, full of life and rest, if you only 
can enjoy it without the double-headed fidgets and a 
face ache. . . . 

Often and often my thoughts wander across the 
deep wide waters, and I find myself with the " Boys " 
in the office. I can see you all. The strikes and 
floods and fires in America must make more or less 
anxious times for you. It seems as if I ought to be 
with you, in all your good results and in all your 
worries. But I cannot be there, and so I comfort 
myself in my " Boys." During the great storm we 
passed through at sea the Captain and officers were 
on deck all the time, did bravely all they could, 
and trusted Providence for all the rest. But they 
worked every moment and went ahead all the time. 
Every storm makes better sailors, and the sun will 



320 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

shine again. From this long distance it seems better 
to close reef the sails, and only keep enough on to 
steady the ship. During the gale the little " storm 
petrels " were scudding all around the ship, — sure 
sign of dangerous weather. So now they are flying 
all over the world ; but the great storm is not yet. 

There is no fear of any great wars this year ; the 
nations are not ready. France is gaining strength 
every day, and now is busy drawing money from the 
whole world. Germany keeps strong. Austria is 
gaining with wonderful strides, and will be heard 
from some day. Italy is disposed to toady to Eng- 
land, which may prove her hurt when the struggle 
comes. Russia is vast, is grand, is an enigma, and 
will yet, in spite of all the nations, enlarge her 
borders to their detriment. England, as usual, is 
fooling with every question. In Egypt, beaten by the 
French ; in China, beaten again by the French ; in 
India, beaten by the Russians ; and at home, beaten by 
a handful of Irish. She is weak because of her great- 
ness. She is foolish through her statesmen. But 
none of these great peoples are now ready for war, 
and will use every endeavour not to have trouble. 

Strange as it may seem, the weak spot in the great 
nations of the earth is now our own beloved Republic, 
— the United States. We have grown too fast. We 
have got rich too fast. We have been too ready to 
open our arms to all the dissatisfied ones of these 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 321 

old countries. We are too free. But the foundation 
is broad and grand, and it will remain the glorious 
country it now is if the lessons it is now receiving are 
heeded. . . . 

To the Same. 
Carlsbad, Austria, April, 29, 1886. 

. . . Carlsbad is in a deep valley, with mountains 
in all directions, and crowding it almost into the river. 
In every direction through the mountains there are 
beautiful broad walks, laid out with care, and zigzag- 
ging all steep places, with plenty of comfortable seats 
in delicious nooks and outlooks. In all there are 
about thirty -six miles of these walks. The drives are 
said also to be beautiful, but we have not tried any of 
them as yet. People flock here to be u cured " from 
all over the world, and it is therefore a mottled assem- 
blage ; but the greater part are Germans. . . . 

Dr. Grunberger made his second visit to-day. He 
says he now understands my case thoroughly, and is 
sure Carlsbad water and air and diet will effect a 
" cure." I have faith, as we had to pay the city 
authorities forty-nine florins taxes for use of water 
and music. . . . 

A fine picture of a fat man, his back towards you, 
getting out of a mud bath, hangs in one of our 
windows, — that is, shop windows. The effect is at 
once striking and wonderful. . . . 

41 



322 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To Harvey Edward Fish. 

Carlsbad, May 3, 1886. 

. . . This Pupp's Establishment is very large. In 
the restaurant, coffee house, and. garden, they have 
seating room for three thousand guests at one time. 
After a few days, if weather is pleasant, we shall have 
a grand concert in the garden every afternoon. In 
the morning we are up very early, about six thirty, and 
off to the springs, where we find hundreds of people, 
each one carrying a cup and taking his turn at the 
various springs. . . . 

Yesterday, on our walk, Wilbur, Bertha, Eva, and 
myself, in a very wild part of the mountain walk we 
were on, overtook a large, stern-looking man with a 
frozen face. He glanced at us and caught sight of 
Eva. The face melted ; he slacked up until we 
walked side of him ; he kept pace with us, every 
moment looking down at her. At last I ventured, 
"Good morning," — a shake of the head. Again, 
" Bonjour, monsieur," — another shake ; then, " Guten 
Morgen." This he answered by pointing to himself 
and saying " Russe." I replied, " Amerikana." That 
was our conversation. He walked with us a long 
way. This was a meeting between the two great coun- 
tries of the world. And how can he and I ever know 
what thoughts those two words excited in our breasts ? 
There are only two universal signs known to the 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 323 

whole civilised world, — written figures, 1, 2, etc., 
and music ; and why cannot some genius from these 
make a universal language ? The tower of Babel was 
an awful structure, and still they are about to build 
in the Champs Elysees, Paris, for the next Interna- 
tional show, 1889, a tower one thousand feet high. 
What a smash this will give figures and music, — 
then what ? 

As for myself, I think Carlsbad is doing me good ; 
I eat and sleep as I have not for a long time. . . . 

To Charles J. Fisk. 

Carlsbad, May 11, 1886. 

If I had written you as often as I have thought of 
you and Lillie, and the dear little chubs, you would 
have received a thousand letters by this time. And 
then how often I see you in your quiet, manly way 
around the office, keeping eveiything on an even keel, 
and trimming the sails at any sign of rough weather ! 
The papers are full of accounts of the labour troubles 
in America, and the terrible riots in Chicago and 
other places. I cannot help feeling some anxiety as 
to the effect on securities and business, and hope 
some of you will write me fully about how you are 
getting along. But these things will all subside and 
regulate themselves after a time, and business will be 
better than ever. Don't get impatient waiting for 



324 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

business ; it will come in good time. Let everything 
be done with prudence and carefulness, building up 
all the time on a good and broad foundation. . . . 

You would laugh and grow fat to see the sick 
people in Carlsbad, — now some thousands. Fat 
men and women drinking the waters, climbing the 
mountains, and dieting, to get thin ; lean men and 
women drinking the waters, climbing the mountains, 
and stuffing, to get thick ; yellow people to get white; 
pale people to get dark. . . . 

To Pliny Fisk. 

Carlsbad, May 21, 1886. 

So often, since being among these Carlsbad people, 
I have thought, " How much Pliny would enjoy it ! " 
To be sure, it is a lounging, lazy life ; nothing to do 
but to look at the crowds of living, walking Austrians, 
Bohemians, Germans, and every other nation in 
Europe, — all in their Sunday clothes, and all bent 
on passing the time as happily as possible. Coffee is 
the lounging drink, and from morning until night the 
gardens are full. We are quite used to it now, and 
have turned Dutchmen for the time being, and so do 
as the rest do. . . . 

Of course the gathering at the springs in the morn- 
ing is the great event of the day ; thousands there with 
cups in their hands, waiting in line to get the living 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 325 

hot waters. What with the excellent music, and the 
deep guttural words of the talk, the generally happy 
faces, and the mixed nationalities, it makes a wonder- 
ful picture to be remembered. . . . 

The enclosed lamentable examples of the effects of 
mud bathing will certainly give Mamie the blues, 
when she thinks there is nothing but clear clean 
water in America in which to bathe dear little 
Edie. . . . 

From this long distance things look mixed in 
America, and you " boys " are on my mind a great 
deal. I now should love to have a letter giving me 
your views on the outlook, and also from you all as 
to the general condition of affairs. We have made 
no plans ourselves beyond the " cures," and much 
may depend upon what we get from you all in arrang- 
ing them. That you will all be cautious and every 
moment " on guard " I have no doubt. Everything 
is peaceful in Europe, and the prospects are that all 
will remain so for some time. But don't you be too 
sure that the Canadian fishery question is not winked 
at by the deep English statesmen as a " touch-down 
for safety," in the ugly Irish question now on their 
hands. To my mind, it is a cloud which may grow 
suddenly into big proportions. . . . 



326 LETTEES OF HARVEY FISK. 

Franzensbad, Austria, June 5, 1886. 

My dear Boys, — . . . I find myself daily gaining 
peace of mind, and new strength. Some of the old 
vigor is beginning to appear, and perhaps I may 
bloom out so fresh that I shall propose having a sec- 
retary, and making a general tour among European 
bankers in order to establish good connection for our 
foreign credits. Let us build up slowly, strongly, and 
surely, so that in a few years Harvey Fisk & Sons, 
of New York, shall have a good name the world over. 
Many of the bankers over here are immensely rich. 
I want to find out the secret of their success. . . . 

Tell Mary to play " The Battle of Prague " if she 
wants to feel a sensation of the power of music. I 
heard a girl play it thirty-eight years ago, and the 
memory of that experience has never deserted me. 
Speaking of thirty-eight years ago, reminds me of 
being slid off the back of an old horse into a mud 
puddle some years previous. That experience and 
the above " Battle of Prague " will " never, no never," 
desert me. . . . 

Can you realise us all settled down so comfortably 
in Austria, that no longer is there any strange feel- 
ing, that the people and houses and ways of living, 
and even the talk, seems natural to us. You would 
laugh to see us bolt into a store and ask in English 
for what we want, — a shrug and smile generally the 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 327 

answer. Then we try French in our most insinuating 
tones, — almost always the same reply. Then we 
brace up, put a frog in our mouths, and say our 
" Haben Sie " and " Wie viel " and " Vat ish der 
prishe ; " this last is such good German it generally 
fetches them. We do have some fun even in the 
midst of our afflictions. . . . 

We think and talk so much of home and our dear 
ones there. We find Riverside so much in our 
thoughts, so many plans are suggested for little im- 
provements. We think of the dear little ones and 
their sweet faces, we see you all, we love you all, and 
hope the blessed day will come when we can all, with 
love in our faces, greet each other. The beautiful 
German good-bye — " Auf Wiedersehen " — we part 
to meet again, expresses all our hope. 

To the Same. 
The Giessbach, Switzerland, July, 1886. 

. . . We had been told Prague was a dangerous 
place to go to, that the Bohemians were ugly, that 
constant troubles were brewing, — still, we handsome 
Americans decided to go and see for ourselves. As 
darkness and evening drew on we approached this 
city of age and romance. . . . 

Prague is beautiful beyond comparison. Its situa- 
tion on the grand river Moldau, with high hills on 



328 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

each side, built to the top, with its hundred towers 
and castles and churches, and grand buildings of the 
nobles and princes, gives one a shock of delight. 
Those dreamy rides and walks in Prague ; those visits 
to temples and palaces, where riches so wonderful 
were displayed that Aladdin's cave no longer seemed 
a myth ; the old synagogues in the Jews' quarter, one 
of them said to have been founded by the Jews who 
left Jerusalem after the crucifixion, — whether so or 
not it did not seem strange ; then the great institu- 
tions of learning, the hospitals, and other noble char- 
ity buildings, — all made a strong impression. . . . 

At last time was up and we must leave. We left, 
having received only smiles from those " ugly " Bo- 
hemians. Beautiful Prague, — may you all live to 
visit it some day ! . . . 

Aleck was real good to write us so often while 
on his trip, and since. Take good care of the old 
bachelor. 

Now good-bye again, and may God bless and keep 
and prosper all and each of my dear boys ! 

To Charles J. Fisk. 
Lucerne, Switzerland, July 20, 1886. 
. . . You boys have done well through so many 
months of trial. You have shown prudence and care, 
and, above all, " staying " qualities which do you 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 329 

credit. Am glad to see how strong you are, not only 
in money but in backbone. Your statement was very 
full and explicit. About the Chesapeake & Ohio Cur- 
rency Bonds, if Mr. Huntington is honest they will 
come all right ; but if he shows any signs of fixing 
things, as he has done in other roads, should advise 
selling them, even at a loss. Anything you all decide 
to do, I shall approve. . . . 

About the future, we have about decided that 
Mamma and I, with Bee and Eva, will remain over 
some time longer, while Wilbur and May will return 
on account of college and school. They will be a 
precious charge consigned to each and all of you, — 
Wilbur to look after, to encourage by warm interest, 
to guide and advise in his college life, to help him if 
difficulties arise, to praise as he deserves. ... I want 
Eddie to go out with him for his examinations, and to 
see him well settled. As to your sister May, I need 
say nothing, — you will all vie with each other in 
attentions to her. She is worthy of all your love and 
admiration. . . . 

Paris, Hotel Meurice, Aug. 14, 1886. 
My dear Boys, — . . . Yesterday letters came 
from each and all you dear good boys, so full of love 
our hearts were very shaky for a little while. We 
talked about you all. While loving arms were reach- 
ing out for May and Wilbur, loving hearts were sent 

42 



330 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

over to make Papa and Mamma and the little ones 
happy. It was half-past one, dinner was announced. 
We all gathered around the table, Mamma at one end, 
Papa at the other, Wilbur at Mamma's right, with 
Eva on the left, Bertha at Papa's right, May on the 
left, little thinking that in a moment a brilliant flash 
of lightning was to upset us all. It was one of those 
beautiful sheens of light out of a clear sky, no warn- 
ing thunder, no dark clouds. " Mamma, I really be- 
live Carlsbad would do Eckie lots of good." With- 
out a word Mamma's " left " was out of her chair, run- 
ning around the room like a wild-cat. She laughed, 
she screamed, she pulled me down and kissed me ; 
her excitement was so ludicrous that we all shouted. 
After quiet was restored, Mamma's answer came, " I 
am sure it would, it would pay over and over if he 
can be spared ;" and so it was decided. . . . 

Switzerland is beautiful, it is charming ; but it is 
tiresome, and no place to rest. The mountains are so 
high, so firm, they never move ; often I wanted to 
push them over. Still, there is a wonderful enjoy- 
ment about it all. Even the people, who are all on 
the " make," are a striking curiosity. The hotels 
are large and almost universally good. Instead of 
" thirty seconds," you carry around a bag of " pour- 
boires," and all goes for your comfort. . . . 

The mountains, valleys, and lakes, having been 
made for hotel keepers, lose some of their interest ; 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 331 

but there is a beautiful, lovely side to all this. The 
air is soft and sweet, the lakes are grand in their 
glorious settings, and the mountains when seen at a 
distance, as at Geneva and Lucerne, are grand beyond 
conception. . . . We went to the Eigi's top, bought 
some knick-knacks,, looked at the fog, and came 
down again. We saw -=- that is some of us did — 
where Tell shot the apple, where he jumped ashore 
and left Gessler to paddle alone, where the boy stood 
and winked at the arrow. If I should tell you of all 
we saw and did n't saw, you would finish this letter 
the same time the boy did the dictionary. . . . 

Paris has not changed, it is restful and good to be 
here again ; still the first charm of newness has passed 
away. I am growing to love Germany. . . . 

To Wilbur C. FisJc and May L. Fish 

Nuremberg, Germany, Sept. 4, 1886. 
My dear Children, " Wilburmay," — How long 
it seems since you left us for your sail across the 
wide, wide ocean ! How often we have talked about 
you, prayed for you, and imagined just how far 
you were ! . . . Who knows, some day thoughts may 
be chained and sent through space one to another. 
At this moment my mind and heart are intent on 
you. I can see you both. I am with you, talking to 
you. Your thoughts may be with us. When the 



332 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

missing link is discovered, then we can know sure if 
at the same moment far apart we are talking with 
each other. These are such strangely wonderful days 
you are living in. If your lives are spared to take 
the grand part, — which I believe you both will, — 
you will help in great things, and be apart yourselves 
in helping along destiny. . . . 

To May L. Fish 

Carlsbad, Sept. 18, 1886. 

. . . You would laugh to see how Aleck goes butt- 
end into German : he talks with every one, and laughs 
and crows over his talk. He really is making great 
progress, — nowhere near Wilbur yet, but he will be if 
he perseveres. So many jokes, people taking him for 
Wilbur. The other morning he stopped at the photo- 
graph window near the porter's door ; the lady tripped 
out, " Good morning ; " " Good morning," returns 
old Eck. " You used to speak to me whenever you 
passed last spring," she says. Eck says, " I never 
saw you or spoke to you before." Scene — a fainting 
lady, if Eck hadn't jumped to the rescue with an ex- 
planation that he was the other one's brother. The 
old lift boy has left, and the new one, who has a laugh 
like a zebra, and Eck are great friends. . . . 

Enlist every one you can to write dear little Eva a 
letter to reach her on or about her birthday. She 
will appreciate it more than you can imagine. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 333 

By the time this reaches you you will have com- 
menced school. It is not necessary for me to give you 
advice how to study or about your conduct in school : 
you will do well ; only don't get into the habit of 
studying late evenings. Get to your room early and 
be up early. Continue to be careful about your diet ; 
don't undo the great good you have received here. . . . 

Dr. Grunberger says if I can do as he wishes I must 
not take up business for some months. ... I want 
to do whatever may be right and for the best. It has 
seemed it would be better as far as I am concerned to 
remain over here. How could I be in America and 
not go back to the office ? It would be to the world, 
I am afraid, a confession of invalidism which I don't 
love to encounter. I am not ready, after all my years 
of active life, to be rolled up in swaddling clothes and 
laid on the shelf. . . . 

Little things. — You ought to read some daily 
newspaper to keep up with the great movements of 
the day. Let your paper be either the Tribune, or 
Times, or Post. Don't read too much, and let all 
other daily papers severely alone, even if they lie 
before you. Please at present also let light reading 
have the go-by. 

Now, dear daughter Mayti, do all things in your 
usual cheerful manner ; do not let trifles about house 
worry you ; do your utmost for perfect peace and har- 
mony ; show to Pliny an interest in business, and talk 



334 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

over with him about the markets, etc. ; learn all you 
can also from the boys. . . . 

Mamma says, " What a letter you are writing to 
May ! " I love May very much. Your dear old ever- 
lasting tired and cheerful Papa. 

To Wilbur C. Fisk and May L. Fisk. 

Paris, Sept. 26, 1886. 

As so mucli of what I have to write is mixed in my 
thoughts with you two, and as my letter-writing from 
abroad is about over, I thought best to again replace 
" My dear Boys " by a letter to " Wilburmay." Your 
splendid letters since they commenced to arrive have 
filled us full of love and comfort. . . . 

At the close of my last letter we were in Carlsbad, 
with no thoughts of coming home this fall ; but a 
vague unrest got among us. We talked and planned 
many things ; but I found all interest was gone, that 
behind all was an intense desire for home. At last it 
began to crop out in small speeches. Then Mamina- 
evabee thought Riverside would be the best place for 
the winter. All this made me restless ; nights long 
and sleepless. One afternoon Dr. Grunberger called, 
and told Mamma and the children that the only thing 
to cure Mr. Fisk was a trip across the ocean (how 
doctors agree, — the very thing Dr. Gillette said!), 
and be near his children and friends, but by no means 
to settle down to business for some months. . . . 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 335 

And now how do I feel about it all, it would be 
difficult to say. It is crawling over me that a quiet 
winter at Riverside near you all would be nice ; that 
perhaps Dr. Grunberger is right. Anyway, I am 
afraid Mamma and the children would be homesick 
to stay over here all winter, and perhaps really sick 
before spring. There are many reasons I can see 
why we had better be home. It is decided, and I 
shall feel we have been directed aright, and shall 
come home cheerful and happy. . . . 

London, Oct. 5, 1886. 
My dear Boys and loving May, — As this will be 
my last letter before we sail, I shall embrace you all 
in one last loving token of my great love. You are 
all equally loved by me, you are all in my thoughts, 
you are all very dear. May is my only girl and 
daughter at home, and perhaps a little more love in 
proportion goes to her. The other dear daughters 
being part and parcel with three of my dear boys, are 
included with them, while thoughtful Wilbur is so 
dear that he needs not to be told that he now is one of 
" My dear boys " at home. And those five dear, bright 
little grandchildren, — you know they are one with us 
all. Our trip is about ended, our rest abroad is about 
over ; soon again we hope to be with you ; soon letters 
from Europe will not be needed to tell you you are in 
our thoughts all the time. 



336 LETTERS OF HAKVEY FISK. 

As I look back the few months since we left home, 
it seems like a dream ; the ocean-crossing, the arrival, 
London, Paris, Carlsbad, Switzerland, Paris again, 
Carlsbad again, quickly Paris, then London, and now 
so soon on the wide, deep ocean for home, and to see 
you all again. It seems only a moment, a breath of 
time, the going home is so sudden, so unexpected. 

Am I better than when we left ? I think so, I hope 
so, I shall try to be so. Still for days I have been so 
depressed, why I cannot tell, only thinking of the 
misery before I left, sleepless nights and imaginary 
trouble. The years of trying to pay every one the 
last cent due them, the trouble about Newark, the 
terrible sorrow that awaited me when I came home 
last time, the feeling of disgrace, the loss of confi- 
dence, — all these things still assail me. But, on the 
other side, when I think of how bravely and cheer- 
fully your noble Mother came to the rescue, when I 
think of my bright faithful boys, and how they cling 
to me, I do feel comforted. Oh, those days of toil 
and trouble, when I felt that all of honor and truth 
depended on me, and when evening came, and I went 
home almost crazy night after night ! When all this 
comes up so vividly again, I do feel my heart sink, 
and almost fear to see New York again. After 
weighing every side I think the decision is right, and 
for some good reason I know it is best that we should 
come home. . . . The dear children are so happy, 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 337 

Mamma is so happy, thinking of seeing you all again, 
— and why should I not be just as happy ? I do look 
ahead to being quietly at Riverside with a great deal 
of pleasure, only the feeling is so strong that some- 
thing will unsettle us there, and that soon we shall 
again move on. When I left I did not see the need 
of it, I felt Dr. Gillette was a grand humbug for advis- 
ing it, I was cross at every one for thinking I ought 
to come away ; but now I know I did not come a 
minute too soon ; and the fear lest I am coming back 
too soon is probably what so much depresses me now. 
Why I write all this to you I do not know ; probably 
because it eases my mind. . * . 

Riverside, Saturday, Dec. 11, 1886. 
With ever so much love this two months' old letter 
is sent to finish the last trip abroad. 

To May L. Fisk. 

Riverside, Dec. 21, 1886. 
. . . How much I have enjoyed my quiet rest here 
at Riverside, every moment ! I have tried to keep busy 
out of doors all the time, have run everything until I 
am loving the work, and becoming familiar with all the 
routine of the farm as well as Riverside proper. . . . 
The place never seemed to me more delightful ; 
but we mast cut down the expenses of running it. 

43 



338 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

We shall try the coming year to live more economi- 
cally all around. I find it necessary, and I know all 
will help. . . . This of course is only for my dear old- 
est daughter, as she can help materially in many ways, 
especially by her example to the rest. You know the 
panic swept away nearly all we had saved. You know 
that " poor relations," in the shape of widows and 
fatherless daughters, always fare hard, and I am so 
anxious on Mamma's and my daughters' accounts to 
accumulate enough that they may be comfortable, if 
the old father should be taken away. A few years of 
economy with good business will accomplish this. I 
am sure I am much better, and hope to be able to 
take up business again with something of my old vigor. 
I never did set a very great value on riches. I love to 
give Mamma and you children all you need, I love to 
help any good cause, and when I had it, always gave 
liberally. But 1 do want to have enough to take 
care of you all in any emergency. You are a good girl, 
and Papa loves you very much. 

To Wilbur 0. Fisk. 

April 30, 1887. 

Your good birthday letter was just like " my boy." 
I have thought of it a hundred times, even in the 
midst of business. You are doing right, and will be 
blessed for it. Thank you for the pocket-book ; it was 
very nice. „ . . 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 339 

To the Same. 

New York, May 30, 1887. 

. . . Business has been very good, and encouraging 
in many ways ; our accounts are increasing, and the 
circle of business friends is steadily widening. The 
" Boys " are all the time improving, and I think a 
great deal of the old confidence is returning. I hope 
my health and strength will be spared to see Harvey 
Fisk & Sons very strong on their feet. 

It is decided that we go to Maplewood again this 
summer, and we are all looking ahead with great 
pleasure to it. I have sent word to Smith to save us 
a nice pair of driving horses. How much I did enjoy 
those long rides with you ; they were regular sprees 
for me. We must do all we can to make it pleasant 
for Mamma and the girls, lots of pieknieks, etc., etc. 
We must take with us from Riverside some flags for 
Eva's tent, to decorate with, and at least a half-dozen 
lanterns to hang around the porch, and also plenty of 
travelling rugs. . . . 

New York, May 3, 1887. 
My dear Pliny, — Under the skilful guidance of 
the National finances by Mr. Cleveland's admininis- 
tration the country has been brought to an era of 
prosperity such as has been rarely witnessed. A 
check now would be lamentable and disastrous. The 



340 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

check will surely come if the Treasury balances are 
allowed to continue accumulating. The Associated 
Banks of New York have now but a few millions 
over their legal reserve. The Treasury is locking 
up ten to fifteen millions a month. If a combination 
of capitalists in New York should draw the millions 
from the banks and lock it up it would be looked 
on as the height of conspiracy and wickedness and 
do untold mischief. 

It will not do for the Government to wait and 
see. In my opinion it ought to begin now and 
do the only thing it can, — buy its own bonds to 
the full extent the Treasury balances will permit. 
Every bond bought saves the country a large amount 
in future interest payments. It is certainly not a 
National disgrace that our credit is so high. It is 
certainly not a National loss if the country is able 
to save a part of the future interest payments. But 
it would be a National disgrace if with millions of 
surplus money in the Treasury now, and more to 
come, disaster should again cover the land when 
the remedy is so easy to apply. And the country 
should not be brought to the verge of disaster 
before this remedy is applied. 

There will be no trouble about getting bonds. Of 
course the premium will advance under purchases of 
such large amounts ; but suppose it does advance 
5 per cent, or more, the Government will be the 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 341 

gainer in the end. Every 4J per cent, bond left 
running to maturity will cost the Government 120J. 
Every 4 per cent, will cost 181. Every " currency 
six " will cost according to the years it has to run 

— say 1899's — 172, and in proportion for other 
dates. 

For over twenty-five years I have done almost 
nothing but help to make and reduce the Govern- 
ment debt ; and that it has been compelled to pur- 
chase in addition to " calls " nearly five hundred 
millions of its bonds is certainly no disgrace, but 
a wonder to the world. 

This letter I write as per your request for my 
views, and of course you can show it to the Secretary, 

— my only object is the country's good. 

Business has been light to-day, money 5-6 on best 
collaterals, foreign exchange very firm. 

Truly, your father, 

Harvey Fisk. 
To Mr. Pliny Fisk, 

Riggs House, Washington. 



New York, June 2, 1887. 
Hon. C. S. Fairchild, 

Secretary-Treasury, Washington : 

Our Mr. Pliny Fisk, whom you have already met, 
will hand you this letter. Since his previous visit 
to Washington we have seriously considered different 



342 LETTERS OF HARVEY EISK. 

ways and means whereby the Government could best 
expend its surplus in buying its own bonds. The 
result of our thinking we have embodied in the 
paper enclosed with this, in the form of a supposed 
announcement to be issued by your department. The 
advantages of this mode would be that at once the 
people would see and appreciate the great saving 
to the Treasury, which would amount — supposing 
holders would surrender on this basis — to from fif- 
teen to twenty millions on the whole issue of 4J's. 

Our opinion is that this plan adhered to would 
result in the Treasury securing all the bonds (4J's) 
it needs to keep down its surplus and invest its 
sinking fund. 

It seems to us that every dollar the Government 
is to have no use for ought to be invested if it can 
make 2 per cent, per annum, and especially as the 
country will certainly suffer if the surplus balances 
are allowed to accumulate much longer. 

Our only motive is to do all we can to assist the 
Administration in meeting this surplus question in 
the best way. 

Our experience in handling Government Bonds, 
lasting as it has for twenty-five years in case of our 
Mr. Fisk, is entirely at the service of your depart- 
ment, but we feel quite sure the only successful 
manner you can obtain the bonds is to open public 
buying through the Sub-Treasury in New York. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 343 

Our Mr. Pliny Fisk will fully explain the reasons 
for the proposed plan if you desire. 

We remain, with great respect, 

Harvey Fisk & Sons. 

To May L. Fish. 

New York, Fourth of July, 1887. 
Often have I heard the little ones in their weari- 
ness say, " Mamma, what shall I do ? " That just ex- 
presses my feelings. This has been a long, lonesome 
day. I have read and read until reading has tired me. 
The day is hot and sultry. I have no desire to go 
out, and no place to go to if I did, so I have stayed 
home all day. To-morrow will come after a while, 
and then I shall go to work and feel much better. 
Two days and a half, all in a string, is too much of a 
holiday. I am just as well as can be, never woke up 
until eight o'clock, enjoyed my breakfast and lunch. 
I have been by turns upstairs and downstairs, front 
windows and back windows, to find the cool spots ; 
have read the newspapers, magazines, and skimmed 
over diverse books ; have washed my face, brushed my 
hair, smoked cigars, looked over bills, but withal 
and in every room and every corner has sat Mrs. 
Solitude, until I am tired of her. At last the thought 
struck me that writing a letter to my stately daughter 
might evict her, and would you believe it, she has 



344 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

already flown away in utter disgust. I have received 
two letters from you, and have enjoyed them, and 
was especially pleased with the evident care in writ- 
ing them. 

What a good time you must be having, and how 
glad I am you are all in the mountains these hot days ! 
If the holiday had been two days longer, I should have 
come up, but I could not rise to travelling two days to 
be there one. The weeks will soon go by, and then I 
hope nothing will prevent my having a good vacation. 
I enjoy the Sundays ; they give me only time for a 
good rest. All day long to-day nothing but fire- 
crackers and pistols ; some boys opposite have been at 
it without cessation all day long. Yes, " all day long," 
written two or three times, just about expresses 
it. . . . There goes a whole pack of crackers. 
Our 4 fathers ought to have had the " Fourth of 
July " come in the middle of winter. 

Business keeps quite good. Our " most important 
financial question of the day, etc," has taken the 
country by storm. The papers in the West especially 
are discussing it with great vigor. I brought home 
a package of extracts to read over ; you would laugh 
to read some of them. Bang ! a pistol, crackers, 
crackers, pistol ; bomb ! torpedoes ; how good they 
sound ! I really think an occasional fire-cracker set 
off in church would be a good soul awakener. Thou 
shalt not swear — cracker ; thou shalt not steal — 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 345 

cracker, cracker, cracker — how impressive that would 
be ! . . . What dear little letters I have had from 
Eva Bee ! Is n't it nice to have a dear old Papa who 
has such dear sweet daughters ? . . . 

To Wilbur 0. Fish 

New York, Sunday, July 10, 1887. 

The letter you wrote pleased me very much. The 
manner of expressing your thoughts was excellent, 
and the make-up of the letter was in good form. Do 
you know, my baby boy, you have made a great stride 
forward during the past year. You are learning to 
govern yourself, your temperament is much more uni- 
form. These few words by way of encouragement. . . . 

Now, Wilbur, I know you will do everything you 
can to assist Mamma with her flock ; you must forget 
yourself, and I know you will, — you always have. Let 
Eva be your constant care ; and May and Bee, pay 
them every attention ; even sisters notice and appre- 
ciate the kind, thoughtful attentions of a brother. 
Don't you forget that Bertha has suddenly grown up 
to where she needs a brother's kindest care. Don't 
get pizened with somebody's else sister, and neglect 
your own. The surest way to the heart of any good 
girl is attention and kind care for your Mother and 
sisters. . . . 



44 



346 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 



THE GREAT "LOCK-UP" 

BY THE 

UNITED STATES TREASURY DEPARTMENT 

AND INCREASING AT THE RATE OF OVER TEN 
MILLIONS A MONTH. 



Office of HARVEY FISK # SONS, 

Bankers and Dealers in Government Bonds, 

No. 28 Nassau Street, 

New York, July 27, 1887. 

The situation is startling. If allowed to continue, 
every interest will feel it. Every foot of land will 
become of less value ; every bushel of wheat, every 
bushel of corn, every pound of cotton will decline 
in value. On the other hand, if the administration 
goes to work under the powers given it by existing 
laws, and earnestly tries to frame new laws for the 
consideration of the incoming Congress, we shall 
see such an era of prosperity as was never before 
witnessed in this land. 

THE SITUATION. 

The fact is, that with the exception of some twenty 
millions deposited by the Treasury with National 
Banks there is now " locked up," out of use, and 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 347 

drawing no interest in the United States Treasury, 

the vast sum of nearly 

$340,000,000 
(three hundred and forty million dollars). 

One hundred millions of this vast sum the Trea- 
sury is obliged to keep, under the laws, as a reserve 
against United States notes. 

Upwards of another hundred millions of this vast 
sum is retained to redeem the notes of National 
Banks failed or retiring circulation. 

There is no law requiring the Treasury to keep 
this sum locked up. It is only required to redeem 
the notes as presented. 

It will be years before these National Bank notes 
will all come in, and it is more than likely that 3 to 
5 per cent will never be presented. 

Should this money lie idle all these years ? If 
it must, then there is some defect in the National 
Banking Law which ought to be corrected. 

Why Congress should have put it in the power of 
the National Banks to use the Treasury in this way 
is a serious question. 

Of the balance of this vast sum there is retained 
to meet past due bonds, disbursing officers' drafts, 
P. O. Department accounts and divers appropriations, 
nearly seventy million dollars, just as if the Treasury 
was not receiving from the people every month up- 
wards of twenty-five million dollars to meet all these 
things. 



348 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

For all the above the Treasury Department may 
set up a valid excuse ; but, if so, the next Congress 
should see that something is done to utilize as large 
a part of this $270,000,000 as is consistent and safe. 

Still remaining is $70,000,000, for which lock-up 
there is no reason or law except the ruling or wishes 
of the Treasury Department. 

It is well for the people to know how the Treasury 
stands. 

The following figures are from the official state- 
ment issued by Secretary Fairchild, June 30, 1887. 

In the Treasury. 

Gold Coin and Bullion $278,101,106.26 

Silver-Standard Dollars n 

Bullion, Trade Dollars ( . . . . 249,495,597.66 

and Fractional Silver ) 

United States Notes 28,783,796.79 

National Bank Notes 197,046.00 

Deposited in National Banks . . 22,991,302.33 

$579,56S,849.04 

At same date the Treasury had outstanding, 

Gold Certificates $91,225,437.00 

Silver Certificates 142,118,017.00 

U. S. Notes Certificates .... 8,770,000.00 

$242,113,454.00 
Thus leaving, with the 
exception of the little 

part in the National V, . . . . $337,455,395.04 
Banks, " Locked Up : 
in the Treasury, 



LETTERS OF HARVEY EISK. 349 

With an outstanding debt of over one thousand 
millions on which the people are taxed $44,638,466 
yearly for interest payments, we would submit the 
simple question : 

Is it just to the people to keep, year in and year out, 

1337,000,000 

locked up in the Treasury, drawing no interest, and 
doing no good ? 

Since the issue of our circular of June 16th, — 
" What Use shall the Government make of its 
Surplus," — we have received hundreds of newspapers 
and communications from all parts of the land on 
this subject, all showing a deep interest and concern 
over the Treasury surplus. By far the larger majority 
think as we do, that the sooner the " rebellion " debt 
is cleared out, bought up, paid off and forgotten, the 
better for the whole country. 

It would be far better for the country if $150,000,000 

of this money was immediately used to reduce the 

interest bearing debt, even if the Government made 

nothing by it; but it can not only reduce the debt, 

but save millions in future interest payments by 
doing so. 

Truly, 

Harvey Fisk & Sons. 



350 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To May L. Fisk. 

Sunday morning, Aug. 14, 1887. 

... Do you know that Maplewood keeps moving 
farther and farther away, until it is now almost in the 
unknown regions ? This summer I shall never forget, 
— its great heat, its hard work, its business excite- 
ment, and its constant need of watchfulness. At 
times, especially at waking times in the morning, I 
have been tired and disgusted ; but as soon as I reach 
the street, and get into my fighting boots, I am strong, 
cheerful, and full of courage. 

Next Wednesday will tell if the Treasury Depart- 
ment has actually declared war on us personally. 
Outsiders think if we had offered our bonds lower 
than the little lot the Secretary accepted, he would 
have refused all offers. I can hardly believe it possi- 
ble. We have been working honestly for the country's 
good, and have gained a name all over the land. It is 
not often I write or talk about business on Sundays, 
and should not now except I know you all feel anx- 
ious on my account. We have not given up, and I 
believe will succeed in the end in forcing the Treasury 
to buy bonds freely. . . • 

I want to get Harvey Fisk & Sons so strong, widely 
known and established, that I can take my girls, and 
with Mamma go away for a long time. I am not sorry 
this campaign came on me ; it has given me confi- 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 351 

dence in myself and shown me I have energy and 
strength left. My splendid boys are a great comfort 
and help. . . . 

This is a beautiful Sabbath day. The air is deli- 
cious to breathe ; all is so quiet and still, — a real day 
to rest. The city is empty, churches most all closed, 
only poor people and workers left here to comfort 
each other. . . . The Government is drawing the 
country nearer and nearer a fateful disaster, and if it 
does not soon wake up to the situation, we shall see 
dismal times. Much depends upon what the Secretary 
may do with the offerings next Wednesday. 

I hope, my dear May, you are having a happy time, 
and enjoying your young life to the full. . . . Dear 
May, try to make your life noble and good, above small 
things, full of patience and forgiveness, striving to do 
your part well, and so the world may be blessed that 
you lived in it. . . . 

To Wilbur 0. Fisk. 

New York, Nov. 28, 1887. 
... I wish I had the means and was able to go 
away for a good long time. I cannot get rested ; things 
bother me more than they used to. I love business 
and the office. I suppose I am getting old, or else the 
late years have tired me out. I am well and in good 
spirits, and generally eat and sleep well. Are you get- 



352 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

ting along to your full satisfaction ? I wish we could 
get out to see you oftener, but you know how it is 
about getting started. Your letters to me are much 
appreciated, even if I do not write often. It is so 
hard for me to write after I come home from busi- 
ness, and so I put it off day after day, but none the 
less do I think of you very much. 

What a good time we had at dear old Riverside on 
Thanksgiving Day, and may we all be spared to have 
many such ! 



WHAT IS THE "TROUBLE"? 



Banking Office of HARVEY FISK # SONS, 

Bankers and Dealers in Government Bonds, 
Post Office Address : No. 28 Nassau Street, 

P. O. Box 235. New York, April 5th, 1888. 

It is well to seriously ask, " What is the * Trou- 
ble ' ? " when all securities, — stocks and bonds, and 
even Government Bonds, — are steadily declining ; 
when all products, when the great staple — iron, 
when wages, as well, of the hard-working man, are 
all declining. [" Capital " cannot keep up its wages 
to the working man under these conditions, and in 
consequence " Strikes/' (i Strikes " all over the land, 
and worse yet to come, if the " Treasury " is to be 
allowed to keep on in the locking-up process.] 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 353 

We say it is well to ask with all seriousness, 
"What is the 'Trouble'?" With our population 
increasing with unexampled rapidity, with peace in 
all our borders, why should this be ? 

If a well, hearty, and strong man should suddenly 
lose a quart of blood, and each month blood should 
dribble, dribble from his veins, would any one aware 
of this fact ask, " What is the ' Trouble ' ? " No ! 
Why should they ? 

The " Trouble " is, the depletion of the life blood 
of the nation in the loss of its currency. 

If some strong combination should suddenly with- 
draw even ten millions of currency from active use, 
it would almost create a panic. 

What is the fact ? There is now locked up in the 
Treasury of the United States nearly two hundred 
millions of currency, once in active use. Let this 
out, and at once the " Trouble " will cease. 

The President of the United States has seen fit to 
raise a point about a law authorising the use of the 
surplus in buying bonds, under which law already 
nearly two hundred millions of bonds have been 
bought, — much to the saving of the people. He 
asks Congress to re-enact the same law, — while 
waiting for this, the country suffers. The " House " 
promptly re-enacted the law ; the " Senate " will in 
time do the same. 

During the terrible war of the " Rebellion," the 

45 



354 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

Government was compelled to pay 6 per cent on 
its bonds, in gold, to obtain money. Then the 
National Banks could afford to pay the 1 per cent 
tax on their currency issued ; now, when bonds will 
pay at current prices only about 2J per cent, the 
same tax is imposed, and, in consequence, the cur- 
rency issued by them has decreased over one hundred 
millions, and the whole of this amount is locked up 
in the Treasury. 

Congress should order the Administration to at 
once invest all the surplus in Government Bonds ; 
should at once take the tax from National Bank 
circulation ; should at once order a safe part of the 
hundred millions locked up for retired National Bank 
circulation to also be invested in Government Bonds, 
and the " trouble," as far as caused by the loss of 
" life blood of the nation," would cease at once. 

Can the Government purchase two hundred and 
fifty millions of its own bonds ? We say yes, with- 
out trouble. There are falling due in 1891, two 
hundred and thirty millions of 4J per cents. These 
could nearly all be obtained to save the Government 
2 per cent per annum for the time they have to run. 
The " Fours " could be obtained in large quantities 
to save 2 J per cent per annum, and the " Currency 
Sixes " to save 2| to 2\ per cent. But, as the 4Js 
fall due so soon, it would seem the part of prudence 
to retire them first. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 355 

We insert here, for the information of our customers 
and correspondents, some startling figures as to the 
extent of the withdrawal of currency from the busi- 
ness of the nation. 

The following figures are from the official state- 
ment of James W. Hyatt, Treasurer U. S., issued 
March 31, 1888. 

Gross amount of cash in his hands as Treasurer, 

$673,158,371.69, 

against which has been issued in gold, silver, and 
legal tender note certificates, 

1292,395,394.00, 

leaving net money in his hands as Treasurer, 

1380,762,977.60, 

out of which the Treasurer has 861,231,647.36, lying 
in the National Banks, secured by deposit with him 
of Government bonds. 

Of this vast sum, 1100,000,000 is retained as reserve 
against the Legal Tender notes ; $37,249,253.08 is re- 
tained to cover various appropriations ; $99,192,622.15 
is the actual net amount retained to cover redemp- 
tions of National Bank notes, leaving 

$130,326,758.54 

as the actual surplus at that date. Of this amount 
$25,752,828.20 is fractional silver. ' 



356 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

The spirit of all laws of Congress is that only 
$100,000,000 shall be kept idle ; but from this state- 
ment we see 

$230,326,758.54 

is kept idle, and with the nearly $100,000,000 also 
idle awaiting the slow process of redeeming National 
Bank notes, we have a grand total of idle money of 
upwards of 

THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTY MILLIONS, 

or sufficient to redeem on a 2 per cent basis all the 
outstanding 4J per cent bonds due in 1891, and with 
the additional accumulation of surplus up to end of 
the fiscal year, June 30, 1888,— say $36,000,000,— 
would then leave the $100,000,000 reserve against 
legal tenders intact and some $25,000,000 besides. 

If the remedy for the " Trouble *' depends on 
" Congress " it should awake at once. 

If the administration refuses to act under laws 
already on the Statute Books, and trouble should 
come, then tliey bear the blame. If, under this law, 
in good plain English on the Statute Books, and 
under which, already, by previous Administrations, 

$182,241,750 

bonds have been purchased, the present Administra- 
tion refuses to act in case of need while awaiting the 
slow action of Congress, then let the blame rest 
where it belongs. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 357 

The law is as follows enacted : — 

ACT OF MARCH 3, 1881, 

Authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase 
U. S. Bonds with his surplus money. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America, in Congress assembled, 



Sec. 2. — That the Secretary of the Treasury may at 
any time apply the surplus money in the Treasury not 
otherwise appropriated, or so much thereof as he may 
consider proper, to the purchase or redemption of United 
States Bonds ; Provided, 

That the bonds so purchased or redeemed shall consti- 
tute no part of the Sinking-fund, but shall be cancelled. 

Approved, March 3, 1881. 

While the Government has so large a debt, Con- 
gress should be very cautious in reducing revenues. 
The people do not complain of, or even feel, the 
collection of the present revenues of the Government ; 
but the people do complain that the present revenues, 
paid in so cheerfully, should, if too much to run the 
Government, be locked up from use, when they could 
so easily be used in reducing the debt. 

The people of the United States want the debt 
retired and settled as soon as possible, — all the 
evils befalling the workingmen of the Old World 
come from the enormous public debts. 

Let us, as soon as possible, be free from debt. 



358 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

Capital and people from the whole world will seek 
our borders, and we shall become the " Clearing 
House " of the world. 

Truly, 

Harvey Fisk & Sons. 

To Wilbur C. Fisk. 

Sunday, May 20, 1888. 

Your letter of the 11th pleased me very much ; you 
are certainly doing your best, and are also trying to do 
all the good you can. When the time comes for you 
to be with us again, we shall all be very happy. . . . 

My " fidgets " are intermittent, but on the whole I 
keep very well. Business is brisk and good ; we are 
growing all the time. Our last sale to the Govern- 
ment was a lump sum of $7,000,000. The " House " 
is gaining in power and influence all the time. . . . 

London, Aug. 17, 1888. 
My dear Boys, — It is with a full heart that I com- 
mence this third series of letters to " My dear Boys." 
It may seem strange to say so, but the more I become 
acquainted with them the more I love them. If ever a 
father had more manly, loving, and trustworthy boys, 
— business men, — he could well rejoice, be proud 
and thankful. I am well satisfied. Much of your 
strength and success comes from sticking together. 
So often on the wide ocean I have ever in my mind 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 359 

with so much comfort the four boys left behind, — 
Eddie, Charlie, Pliny, and Aleck. 

My letters may be often, may be far between ; may 
be short, may be long ; may or may not tell the story 
of our travels, — but you may be sure that whatever 
else, they will always be full of love. And not only to 
you, but also to the dear daughters and lovely grand- 
children. 

Our first greeting at Queenstown by the tug was 
Pliny's cable that another dear little one had come as 
a blessing to his home. Such a joyful cable made us 
all happy. We only had time to say " Love " before 
the tug left. 

You may naturally think that crossing the ocean 
had become an old story, with nothing new or strange 
about it. Not so ; it was all new. The ocean is just 
as wide, just as deep, just as grand and solemn. . . . 

On Thursday evening, just before arrival at Queens- 
town, we had a grand concert for the benefit of the 
Sailors' Orphans' Home at Liverpool, — the usual. 
Captain Parsell asked me to be Chairman. Oh, 
yes ! I begged him to excuse me on the plea I was too 
young. You ought to have heard him laugh. But 
my prevailing modesty would not allow me. . . . 
Later, after the concert, I was asked to give thanks. 
Holy Moses, that beat me entirely ! Again I had to 
decline, saying I would put it on the plate. 



360 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

New York, 1 August 23, 1888. 

THE GREAT PERIL 
$132,000,000. 

ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-TWO MILLION " SURPLUS " 
IN THE TREASURY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Banking Office of HARVEY FISK # SONS, 
No. 28 Nassau Street. 

The last statement issued by James W. Hyatt, 
Treasurer of the United States, under date of July 
31, 1888, gives the " Surplus " then in his hands as 
Treasurer, including the fractional silver coin, as 

1132,517,751.55 

In addition to this amount, by the same statement, 
he held : 

19,064,850.53 to cover accrued interest on bonds. 

43,607,795.30 " to meet Disbursing Officer's bal- 
ances," &c, &c. 

96,740,339.38 " for redemption of notes of Na- 
tional Banks failed," &c. 

100,000,000.00 " reserve for redemption of United 
States Notes " 



1 Written by Father before going to Europe. Issued by firm at 
above date. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 361 

Iii short, the Treasurer of the United States had 
in his custody on that date, in money, 

$732,775,527.76, 
against which had been issued gold, silver, and legal 
tender certificates to the amount of 
1350,844,791.00, 
leaving 1381,930,736.76 in his hands, of which 
1132,500,000 is clear " Surplus." This does not 
seem right, especially as the United States Govern- 
ment had outstanding on that date 

$1,014,138,142.00 
interest-bearing debt on over a thousand millions, of 
which it is paying interest at 4 to 6 per cent per 
annum. 

The Secretary of the Treasury has full authority in 
his hands, under Acts of Congress, to purchase of 
these interest-bearing bonds — and stop the interest 
running longer on all so purchased — up to the ex- 
tent of the " Surplus." 

Plenty of bonds can be had to save the Govern- 
ment 2 per cent per annum for the years they may 
have to run. 

Since the Secretary of the Treasury commenced to 
purchase with the surplus money in April last, he 
has, by official statements from the Department at 
Washington, purchased, up to August 21st, 
$33,601,150 

46 



362 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

Fours and Four-and-a-halfs, on which he has made a 
saving to the people in future interest payments 
upwards of 

112,000,000, 
and this after allowing for all premiums paid ; and 
with the surplus money now in the Treasury, he 
could save the people, in addition, forty millions more 
of future interest payments and take this " Great 
Peril " and menace to every interest in the country 
out of the calculation of business. 

The enormous crops of the land now just beginning 
to move, the cotton crop of the South on which 
we depend so much to pay the balance of foreign 
trade — all these interests demand that they shall 
not be imperilled by lack of action on the part of 
the Administration. 

The spirit of the law authorizing the Secretary to 
purchase bonds is clear and unmistakable, that, when- 
ever a " Surplus " accumulates over the $100,000,000 
reserve to be held against the greenbacks, it shall be 
used, above a fair working balance, to decrease the 
debt by purchasing bonds at the market price ; that 
" Surplus," now, is 1132,500,000 over the greenback 
reserve. The Secretary has saved the people, as 
stated above, about $12,000,000 on his purchases so 
far ; therefore there is every good reason why, as 
long as he can get bonds, he should increase this 
saving, decrease the interest-bearing debt, comply 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 363 

with the spirit of the law, and take this u Great 
Peril " of a large " Surplus " from the business of 
the country. 

The Four per cent bonds now have nineteen years 
to run ; 2 per cent per annum for each year they have 
to run would be 38 per cent. If the bonds should 
run to maturity, each bond of $1,000 would cost the 
Government 176 per cent, or $1,760. To save 2 per 
cent per annum the Government could pay up to 
138 per cent, or $1,380 for each bond : but millions 
could be purchased at and under 130 per cent, or 
$1,300 for each bond. The " Four-and-a-halfs," to 
save 2 per cent per annum, would have to be bought 
at not over 108f per cent ; it might be very difficult 
to secure many millions at a better price than to save 
the Government 5 per cent gross for the short time 
they have to ran. The " Currency Sixes," not yet 
included in Government purchases, could be had in 
fair quantities to net the Government over 2J per 
cent saving for each year they have to run. 

Therefore, as large dealers in Government Bonds, 
we do not hesitate to give our opinion that the Govern- 
ment could invest the whole surplus of $132,500,000 
to save on the average 2 per cent for each year the 
bonds have to run, and this is exactly 2 per cent per 
annum better than the Government is getting on its 
large balances lying in the Treasury and National 
Banks drawing no interest. 



364 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

The evils of a " Surplus " are best corrected by 
not having any. The present " Surplus " and its 
evils can, in a very few months, be all done away 
with by using it to reduce — at the best price the 
bonds can be purchased — the interest-bearing debt ; 
much to the saving and comfort of the people. After 
this fiscal year, judging from the temper of both 
political parties, there will not be much " Surplus," 
after providing for the Sinking Fund, to trouble the 
business of the country. 

Truly, 

Harvey Fisk & Son, 

Bankers and Dealers in Government Bonds. 

To Pliny Fisk. 

London Aug. 27, 1888. 
Our hearts have been so much with you and Mamie 
and the dear little one who has been given to you 
since we left. We can even see little Edie's eyes and 
happiness over her dear baby sister. May the good 
Lord bless and keep both of them to you both as a 
blessing and comfort. . . . 

London, Aug. 27, 1888. 

My dear Boys, — ... I strolled off to take my 

first look at Salisbury Cathedral. The afternoon was 

beautiful ; never can I forget that afternoon and my 

feelings as I came in sight of this grand, noble build- 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 365 

ing. The voyage across the wide sea was paid for. 
As graceful as a bird it stood in the midst of its lovely 
lawn. To describe it is beyond my powers. It is 
immense; it is charming; its tower, rising four hun- 
dred feet, springs from its exact centre. I entered. 
It was the afternoon service ; the organ pealed slow 
and solemnly through its vast arches ; it filled me 
full. There it has stood for over six hundred years, 
and it seemed as if I could feel the tramp of ages all 
around me. I could not stay. . . . 

To the Same. 
Germany, Heidelberg, Oct. 6, 1888. 

Since my letter of August 27th I have not been in 
writing trim, but now I hope I am in fair way to re- 
covery. . . . The severe treatment here by the great 
Professor Dr. Czerney I feel confident will result in 
my great good. After another week or so he will 
probably allow us to resume our travels slowly on- 
ward to Vienna, where we expect to remain long 
enough for a complete rest. 

When we pushed out of Charing Cross Station that 
dark, dismal stormy night in August, it was with no 
pleasant feelings that I looked forward to Carlsbad and 
the trial that I knew was before me. When we reached 
Dover, and went down the pier onto the Channel 
steamer, you might have supposed the King of dark- 



366 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

ness had got up a special reception for our benefit. 
The gale shrieked and blew, the steamer fastened to 
the pier gave fretful jumps, as if it knew what was 
coming on its wild Channel crossing. From the deck 
of the little steamer we had to look up thirty or forty 
feet to the pier. . . . We swung away from the dock, 
and in a moment ten thousand devils got under the 
boat and made things lively all the way across. 
We rounded into Calais Harbor after two hours and a 
half, and soon were on the cars and on our way to 
Cologne, which we reached at about noon next day. 
And here let me say a word of love and affection for 
our Courier Wilbur. What we should have done without 
our noble boy I could not say. He was our depend- 
ence and comfort all the way ; took charge of us and 
all our luggage in the most manly way, and finally 
landed us all safe and sound in Carlsbad. . . . 



To Charles J. Fish. 

Heidelberg, Oct. 10, 1888. 
Your letters of September 14th and 22d did me lots 
of good. I do love to hear from my boys direct when 
away so far ; and to hear of the general run of busi- 
ness only interests and does me good. ... I did not 
worry about the money side of the business, but I did 
get lonesome hearing nothing from them, and then I 
was in just the condition to long for some love letters. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 367 

You have all done so well it rejoices my heart, and 
makes me still prouder of my boys. You will appre- 
ciate my desire that you boys should increase your 
capital as rapidly as possible, and make a strong 
bottom to our good ship. I would love to see each 
one of you boys have a good solid $100,000 in the 
business as a forerunner to a round million, by and by. 
But in all things be cautious, work slowly, work 
surely, rejoice in each other and the good name of the 
firm. Such good letters come from dear Lil ; we are 
so glad that she and all the dear children keep so 
well. . . . 

Yesterday I received a real good letter from " Old 
Gim." Tell him when we stop moving East, and turn 
our faces and noses West, looking towards New York 
and his little Cubby hole in the office, then " Old Gim " 
shall be notified. He is a good, faithful man ; tell 
him that on some wild, stormy day next winter he 
can look for a cable, " Send Old Gim by to-day's 
steamer to Cairo, Egypt, to take a little run up the 
Nile with us." 

Remember me kindly to each and every one of the 
clerks in the office. Am glad the " Great Peril " cir- 
cular struck home ; now how would " The Last Blast 
of the Trumpet " do, to stir up good Democrats to 
vote for Harrison ? 



368 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To Alexander G. Fisk. 

Heidelberg, Oct. 11, 1888. 

... I am glad you take an interest in political 
matters ; it is well to know why and wherefore you 
vote. The papers abroad all think Cleveland will 
be elected, and generally hope so. I hope he will not, 
as I am sure the Republican party are on the right 
side. 

What a lot of bonds H. F. & S. are selling the 
Government, and how busy you must be ! I am glad 
of it, and hope you will all have all you can do. . . . 

You must see Grandpa as often as you can. The 
next time you are out, find out how the Ewing Church 
is getting along in money matters, but don't say I am 
inquiring. 

No doubt Mike will take good care of the lot and 
little graves in the churchyard, but you look at them 
carefully when over. ... 

To Wilbur C. Fish. 

Heidelberg, Oct. 12, 1888. 

... I have been through a pretty hard experience ; 

for nearly ten days could hardly move hand or foot, 

but now the Professor pronounces me all right, and 

to-morrow we go to Stuttgart. Mamma, as you can 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 369 

well imagine, has had her heart full taking care of 
me ; she stood it wonderfully. . . . 

Have we missed our Wilbur boy ? — what a ques- 
tion ! But we are glad he followed the path so clearly 
before him and went back to his work ; and all through 
his life I know he or we will always be thankful. 
Your letters, so full of love and comfort, so charged 
with right principles, showing so clearly the true 
spirit, drop in on us like beautiful snowflakes, one 
after the other. Such a comfort as they are to your 
dear good Mother. . . . 

The news from the boys in New York is very en- 
couraging ; they are rapidly making their mark. I 
have received letters from all of them since your re- 
turn, and they can never know how much good they 
did me, coming at the time they did. . , . 



To Charles J. Fish. 

Munich, Oct. 18, 1888. 

... I can only say again you have done wonder- 
fully well, and I can truly say I am more and more 
pleased with the truly careful and conservative ideas 
of business as betrayed in the letters from all of you. 
Only very weak people are upset by prosperity, and 
rendered careless and reckless. You used excellent 
judgment in dealing with the Secretary, and chose 

47 



370 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

the right time to sell. While this is in reply to your 
letter, what I write is intended for all. You truly say 
that your profits are real and not " paper." . . . 

" We are careful and will keep ourselves in shape 
to meet the situation whatever turns up." These 
words are a great comfort to me. ... Am not sur- 
prised the street has been astonished about your im- 
mense business in Governments, — I was also. 

. . . Am glad to hear Aleck is doing so well ; he 
has good tact with customers. ... As to myself, I am 
slowly gaining strength, have rested very quietly here 
while the rest have been doing the picture galleries, 
etc. I hope another month will set me strong on my 
feet again. . . . 



Vienna, Oct. 29, 1888. 

My dear Boys, — This beautiful day is dear little 
Eva's birthday, and she has been very happy. We all 
had some present for her, and at dinner a cake with 
ten candles in little candlesticks surrounding it. She 
also received Aleck's cable of love. 

This wonderfully beautiful city is hard to describe. 
First, it is very old but looks new ; it is very large 
but seems small ; it has nearly one million and a half 
inhabitants ; it is the seat of this great Empire ; it is 
full of royalty, full of officers, full of soldiers, full of 
people ; it has an elevation of about six hundred feet 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK 371 

above the sea, but so low that millions have been 
spent to keep the rushing Danube from overflowing it 
when the freshets come in the spring. . . . Vienna 
is beloved by all the people of the Empire, and too 
much money cannot be lavished to beautify their 
capital. The Emperor Francis Joseph has reigned 
forty years, and is their idol. It is full, full of 
music. . . . 

To Harvey Edward Fisk. 

Paris, 1 

You are a good boy, and I cannot thank you 
enough for your frequent letters, and especially for 
the letters of October 26th, giving me so full an ac- 
count, and so readable, of the situation, and effects of 
the " Great Peril " circular. I have read these letters 
over several times, and always with increased interest. 
It must have tried the pluck of the firm to have 
issued this circular just at that time, — and who knows 
how much effect it had on the elections ? I am glad 
the country has gone back so decidedly into Republican 
hands ; you know I do not believe much in reducing 
revenues until the debt is all paid. . . . 

Thank you for your good words and Dr. Hall's 
message. Give him my love when you see him again. 
He is a good man, and no mistake. . . . 



372 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To Wilbur 0. Fisk. 

Paris, Nov. 14, 1888. 

If you could only see us this morning in our beauti- 
ful apartments, you would be content. It is a foggy 
November morning, but everything within is bright 
and cheerful. . . . 

The dear girls have first, a French lesson two hours 
daily from ten to twelve ; second, a drawing lesson 
three times weekly, given by a French lady speaking 
no English ; third, a music lesson twice weekly, also 
by a young French lady speaking no English. This 
keeps them quite busy. May is keeping Bee and Eva 
up in their English studies, and does well. . . . 

My days — Coffee, rolls, toast, and an egg, de- 
jeuner ; then a smoke, and read the papers and write ; 
about eleven o'clock, after Thompson brings the mail, 
a walk in the Tuileries for an hour ; at twelve 
thirty a good meat breakfast, then a quiet hour or 
two reading and talking, another exercise walk of an 
hour or two, dinner — good — at six, and a pleasant 
evening. I am really resting, and such a good 
rest ! . . . Our dear, bright, happy Eva, she is cheery 
all the day long ; her whole heart is set on being good 
and doing good, and it makes her happy. She talks so 
much about " Wibba ; " her sweet, tender baby love for 
her dear good brother clings to her. . . . 

You did well in your Differential Calculus ; better 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 373 

than I could ! Will try and get some drawings to 
send you of the Eiffel Tower ; it is now about six 
hundred feet high, and is to go up, up, nearly four 
hundred feet more. It has a strong, solid look. The 
whole exhibition promises wonders. 



To Charles J. Fisk. 

Paris, Nov. 27, 1888. 
Your frequent and good letters are a great comfort. 
. . . Sometimes it seems so far away, and I often long 
to go down to the office, and take my old seat, and 
see the people, and feel I am surrounded by my dear 
loving boys, and to see the clerks all in their places 
and working cheerfully. Those pictures took me home 
again for a little while ; you must thank Mr. Keller 
for the trouble he has taken, and tell him the pleasure 
they gave me, as well as all the rest. Your hair has 
grown ; you looked weighty. Hudnut had a serious 
Democratic look ; Graham looked as pleased as when 
he figures up large profits. James fighting ! ! I was 
astonished ; the apron, the broom, the specs, the 
ministerial face, — all these reminded me of my old 
Gim, but fighting ! oh my ! Tell him, when I get 
home, and we get into my back room, and he leans 
solemnly over the back of a chair, then I shall give 
him a serious talking on the error of his ways. But 
who beat ? . . . 



374 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 



To Michael McOullagh. 

Paris, Dec. 5, 1888. 

While we are so far away we do not forget our 
beautiful Riverside home, nor those who are serving 
us so faithfully. You will find enclosed my check for 
sixty dollars, which I want you to use on Christmas 
Eve as follows : — 

Wishing all a " Merry Christmas," you will give 
Dan, Annie, Edward, and Henry each ten dollars, 
keeping ten dollars each for yourself and Delia. 

We are all well, and so often talk of Riverside and 
you all. Little Eva says if she could only see River- 
side once more for one moment she would be satisfied. 
Remember us all to Delia. 

Very truly, 

Harvey Fisk. 

To Harvey Edward Fisk. 

Paris, Dec. 11, 1888. 
. . . When I was a boy things grew into me, how or 
in what way I cannot tell. The sacredness of the Bible 
so grew. The faith in Jesus Christ so grew. The 
love for my country's good so grew. I grew up a 
Whig, a Republican, and so I am to-day in all these 
things. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 375 

You want me to write " my experience." I am 
afraid it would be like the old woman of my boyish 
days in telling her experience at the prayer meetings ; 
she always ended where she began. My life has been 
all circles, not outside of each other, but one on top of 
the other. My life from earliest recollection has been 
a daily fight with old Satan. That there is a real, 
living Devil, that he prowls the world, I have no 
doubt, and never did have. When I was a boy, 
he was always prowling around dark corners to 
pounce on me. My life from earliest recollection has 
been as a child in its perfect faith and trust in Jesus 
Christ and my love for him. Still, I do believe old 
Satan would make a good Democrat ; he never tempts 
a man to lie who has truth grown up in him. So with 
stealing or any other qualities. Satan comes in where 
he finds a weakness, then he probes and tempts. So, 
when I was a boy, the living presence of the Lord 
and Satan as always with me made me feel I never 
was alone. In a certain way I have always been ac- 
quainted with both. I know what the Lord has done, I 
know what Satan can do. The old lady at the prayer 
meeting was always talking about darkness, marvel- 
lous light, Satan and the Lord, and then would sit 
down to say it all over next time. . . . 



376 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To Wilbur C. Fish 

Paris, Dec. 18, 1888. 
. . . We were quite startled last week by the bad 
news about Grandpa contained in your and Aleck's 
letters ; it made Mamma almost sick, and ready to 
give up and go home. After thinking it over, I 
cabled the boys, without her knowledge, to know his 
exact state, making up my mind in case Grandpa was 
worse to pack up for home. The answer was very 
favourable, and last night Charlie cabled another good 
message about him which pleased Mamma very much. 
Mamma said nothing about going home, but I could 
see it in all her looks and actions. Between you boys, 
you must watch out very close that Grandpa is well 
taken care of. . . . 

To Alexander G. Fisk. 

Paris, Dec. 20, 1888. 
. . . Now about the jury duty. You do right to 
serve willingly. I think the Bible teaching is clear 
and unmistakable that cold-blooded, deliberate murder 
should be punished with death, and there I pin my 
faith. Of course there are at times extenuating cir- 
cumstances which a jury must take into account. 
Never let sentiment bias your mind when called on to 
do jury duty. . . . 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 377 

Paris, Jan. 2, 1889. 

My dear Boys, — Your "Happy Greeting" was 
received yesterday, and this morning I cabled my 
reply. You have done wonderfully well ; you were 
wise in declaring the dividend you did, and to carry 
over to this year such a noble surplus. I am more 
than gratified with the result of your doings. To say 
I am proud of my boys would be saying only what 
you well know. I appreciate the fact that you have 
worked hard. I know at times you have been com- 
pelled to use your keenest judgment. I have been 
through it all, and know how trying it is at times to 
feel sure you are right. All this experience is doing 
you great good. I hope in a few months to be with 
you again, and then shall hope each one of you can 
have the chance of a good rest. Five months from 
you seems like five years. . . . 

You can imagine us all tucked into a big stage, late 
one evening, on our way through the suburbs of Vienna, 
and outside the city to the great Orient Express 
Station. . . . We were all very comfortable ; the cars 
were heavy and solid ; the passage, about three feet 
wide, was on one side, and this left a free space for 
the " cabins." The train was all of this character, 
and very long ; attached to it was a dining-room car 
and a kitchen tender. The attendance was good, with 
large expectancies as to fees. This is the great 

-J8 



378 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

" Orient Express " from Constantinople to Paris, and 
a wonderful train it is ; rarely does it miss a minute 
at any stopping. Its passengers are of all countries 
and all tongues. Passing through the train and into 
the dining-room, you begin to comprehend how unfor- 
tunate it was the builders of the Tower of Babel 
could not have been satisfied with a lower level. 

After a good supper I settled myself in a grand big 
chair in the smoking-room, turned it so as to look out 
into the night, and to watch the weird, ghostly look 
as we whizzed along, and to dream of the thousand 
and one things which under such circumstances — 
five thousand miles from home — will crowd and 
tumble around in your brain. Suddenly the stream 
of thought was checked by hearing two gentlemen 
speaking at the same time in English. I turned 
around, and across the car were two fine-looking men 
having their after-dinner toddy. Instantly, on per- 
ceiving they had attracted my attention, they pulled 
up on English and switched into French. Again I 
looked out of the window and again dreamed. 

We were rattling and banging through the Austrian 
mountains at full speed. One could imagine the old, 
old witches leering at us out of the woods, and with 
fierce threat of vengeance if ever they could chain the 
monster. Of home so far away, of the thousands of 
miles of land and water before we could see it again, 
I dreamed. I even went clear back to the small 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 379 

boy in Essex, who used to dream if he ever got big 
enough, and had money enough, he would some day 
go to Troy. A loud expression from my two gentle- 
men again caused me to turn and look at them, when 
lo, presto ! the French slid into German, and on their 
talk went ; but still I could catch the general sense of 
it. Again I turned back, and soon was on the dream 
road again. It was getting late, and this time the 
dream must have been real. Sometimes my dreams 
are very vivid, and this was such ; but all at once again 
those two talkers got excited, and again I turned with 
a jump. One of them called a waiter and refreshed 
himself with hot water and brandy. Then they com- 
menced in a jargon which beat the Dutch, so I left 
them alone, and will only add they were Englishmen. 
I never felt such an earnest desire as I have this time 
over to be able to speak in divers tongues. When our 
banking house extends its arms around the world, 
we shall feel the need of some one of ourselves being 
able to talk well French and German at least. Wil- 
bur has now the greatest proficiency, but even he is 
not now up to your grand sister May. . . . 

We received a hearty welcome on reaching our old 
Hotel Meurice, and soon were down to our first dinner 
this time in Paris. Of Paris what can I tell you new ? 
The vast buildings for the greatest exposition the 
world ever saw are rapidly approaching completion. 
Wilbur knows full well the " Esplanade des In- 



380 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

valides," the long distance on the quay to the 
" Champs de Mars," and of its vast size. All this 
space will be covered with buildings. The main 
building will be on the " Champs de Mars." Admit- 
tance is strictly forbidden, but May and I with 
Auguste and a few francs managed to get in, and had 
an interesting walk through. The interiors were then 
— six weeks ago — in a very unfinished state ; since 
then great progress has been made ; but the Eiffel 
Tower is wonderful. We stood and gazed up at its 
towering height. It is all of iron and steel ; it looks 
solid and safe. . . . 



To Mr. and Mrs. Charles J. Fish. 

Paris, Jan. 3, 1889. 

We were so happy when the cable arrived to Eva 
from Louise. Such happy faces you never saw when 
Eva read her cable. We do send you our warmest 
love and congratulations over your dear little daugh- 
ter, and may she grow up to be a great comfort to 
you all. We now want to hear from Lillie. How 
the dear little boys and Louise must have been pleased. 
Well, children are the Lord's gift and always bring 
love with them ; bless them ! The enclosed is to 
start a bank account for the dear little one. . . . 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 381 

Pau, Jan. 21, 1889. 
My dear Boys, — ... You are real good to spare 
Aleck to come to us. I felt such a longing to have 
one of my five boys with me, as also did Mamma and 
the girls, that I could wait no longer. We are in a 
new and very interesting country, and I want the 
girls to have full benefit. For this letter I will only 
say I have been more than pleased by your letters 
giving such a clear synopsis of the business of 1888. 
Your conclusions as to dividends and surplus I 
heartily approve. . . . 

To the Same. 

Pau, France, Jan. 21, 1889. 
All the signs are that this year — 1889 — is going 
to be a year of stirring events, and I believe will be a 
great money-making year in America. The papers 
here are commenting on the fact that 1889 is indivis- 
ible by any whole number, and that the year 1789, so 
full of startling events, was of the same character. 
Also that the figure nine will enter into the date for 
the next one hundred and eleven years. There is a 
look of war in the air all over the world, but I do not 
believe it will come this year. All the above caused 
me to dream out the following, which is curious at 
least : — 



382 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

1889 added into itself and into birthdays . 26 

Papa 26 

Eddie . . . . 26 

Pliny 26 

Aleck 26 

Mamma 8 

Freddv 18 

— .... 26 

Charlie 16 

Lulu 10 

— .... 26 

May 23 \ 26 

Wilbur 22 ( Average 26 

Bertha 30 I 4 26 

Eva 29 I dates 26 

104 J 286 

286 divided by 11, Edith's birthday ... 26 
Papa and Mamma . 2 

Married 13th 

Children 11 

.... 26 

338 

Divided by 13, total parents and children . 26 
26 (year) x 26 (birthdays) -r- 338 (above 

total) x 13 (p. and c.) = .... 26 
And finally, the letters of 

Harvey, \ 

Harvey E/ Thefirm _ ^ 

Charles J., ( 

Pliny, ) 

How 7 s this for figures ? 



104 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 383 

It is curious, because if any one date was changed, 
even one day, it would spoil the result. Pliny will 
figure out the profit to the firm in the above. 

Think it must be we are to be closely interwoven 
with the events of the year — 1889. 

Charlie's very interesting letter of the fourth was 
full of remarkable figures in reference to the firm's 
business the past year. His letter partook so much 
of the nature of an official letter from the firm that 
I will reply to it as such. The figures it contains 
show a wonderful system in the books ; they show 
great industry : it is a lively record. You know how 
many years I have been accustomed to big figures, 
but with all that I was filled with admiration for the 
firm and that my boys were capable of handling such 
vast amounts and with a profit. . . . 

The Christmas presents to the clerks, as also raise 
in some salaries, I fully approve. Am very glad you 
remembered Aleck. In this connection, whenever 
you can give Willie Kinney a start, should like you to 
do so. Whenever he is able I presume he would like 
to marry a very nice young lady he is now engaged to 
up in Vermont, — a Miss George. 

The idea of keeping a large surplus, and increasing 
it, is a good one. What a happiness it is to me to 
feel you are all working together so successfully ! I 
should love all my boys to hang together. The good 
you are doing me you can never calculate. . . . 



384 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

To Pliny Flsk. 

Pau, France, Jan. 22, 1889. 

By the papers and statements sent me by Charlie 
I see you have carried out exactly your policy as laid 
down in your letter of Dec. 7th. You have shown 
most excellent judgment in all your handlings of 
Government bonds, and deserve great credit. The 
results for the year are certainly cause for great 
thankfulness, and I know how much is due to your 
exertions and brain workings. When you get time to 
write I love to receive your letters. Mamie writes 
such good letters about home matters that we are well 
posted there. Her last letters have been so sweet 
under the inspiration of the dear Dorothy, — her 
letter to Eva, received to-day, gave Eva a burst of 
happiness. Kiss her and the dear baby for me, and 
tell Edith Grandpa thinks of her a great deal. 
Her picture was charming, and Mamie did look lovely 
with the baby in her arms. . . . 

It was so thoughtful and kind of you to make Wil- 
bur that nice present ; it pleased him more than you 
know. We are all well, and Thursday go to Biarritz. 
Hotel D'Angleterre. . . . 

As for me, the entire rest is working its cure ; 
generally I sleep well, have a good appetite, and am 
in good spirits. You have done all you can to re- 
lieve my mind from care. I do hope you will not find 



LETTERS OF HARVEY EISK. 385 

the pressure too great for you in my absence. Get all 
the sleep you can, — it is the great restorer. . . . 

Do you adhere to the policy of allowing no interest 
on deposits ? In the main I hope you do. Keep your 
eye sharp on New York Central ; that stock is free of 
all taxes, state, city, etc., and would take the place of 
Governments for such purposes. If the policy of the 
managers should be to make it a five per cent stock, 
it would be cheap at present prices. I saw an item in 
the papers to that effect. I throw this out, not as 
advising its purchase, but as a matter to be thought 
over. Let us grow sure, taking no undue risks, but 
ready to strike when good judgment tells us the time 
has come. 

The French bankers are making a pile of money 
out of the Russian loan, which the German bankers 
kicked out of Berlin. Rothschilds, etc., are making 
a pile also out of the Hungarian funding scheme de- 
vised by them. 

The bankers of Europe wield a terrific power. By 
patient waiting and careful watching our time will 
come. 

A banker cannot be too careful of his credit, in 
little as well as big things. The time comes when 
credit and capital can do almost anything. 

A banker should trust everybody. 

A banker should trust nobody. 



49 



386 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

Put these two together and you will find much dis- 
tress and loss could many times have been saved. 

A banker should be a good listener but talk little. 

A banker should cultivate his memory so keenly 
that he can forget all the trash he hears, but remem- 
ber to the finest point anything which may be useful. 



Biarritz, Feb. 2, 1889. 

My dear Boys, — . . . On Saturday, Jan. 5th, you 
could have seen a happy party creeping out of the 
Hotel Meurice, just at break of day. . . . We had 
been two full months in Paris ; it seemed to me like 
leaving home, for I had rested there. We had all 
enjoyed it, and still were ready to leave, for we were 
going to an unknown land, the land of the Basque 
country, the land where France had fought its greatest 
battles in olden times, the land of sunshine and happi- 
ness, the land of wine, of strong men, of beautiful 
women, — we were to see the stormy Bay of Biscay ; 
we were, to sum it all up, to have new sensations. . . . 

We arrived at Pau at noon, after an interesting 
ride of about seventy-five miles. Pau is one of those 
places hard to describe. It is a great resort for the 
English people, you know ; they bring their horses 
and guns and dogs, and have a good time their way. 
It lias its casino, its theatre, its English club, its 
beautiful walks and drives, and, when the air is clear, 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 387 

a most wonderful view of the Pyrenees, about ten 
miles distance. . . . 

Now this is not all of Pau, — its people, the natives 
of the soil, interested me hugely. We were on the 
borders and in the Basque country. The people 
dress quaintly ; it was a curious sight to ramble 
through the streets and see them in crowds, with 
sabots, wooden shoes, and Basque hats, and generally 
good-looking and so polite. They are an honest, in- 
dustrious people, these Basque people ; they are a 
peculiar race. They cover this part of France, and 
also several districts in Spain. They are a bold peo- 
ple, and claim never to have been beaten in war. 
Their language is strange, difficult to learn, and so 
difficult that a curious legend says that old Satan, 
finding he could not corrupt the Basque people, con- 
cluded to go among them and learn their language, 
and then with sweet tongue he would beguile them ; 
but after eleven months' hard work, he gave it up, 
and forever since has left them alone. They further- 
more claim that theirs is the original tongue, spoken 
before the Tower of Babel shake-up, and that they 
retained their original. . . . 

Last Sunday morning was dark and dismal. Aleck 
was due at Bayonne, six miles distance, at six forty, 
so Auguste and I started at five forty-five to meet him. 
We had a landau with two powerful horses, a string 
of bells on each to frighten the Basques, and away we 



388 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

went. It was dark as tar ; the driver ran his horses 
all the way, up hill and down. It was a weird ride, 
but we came in all safe. . . . After his trip of four 
thousand miles, Aleck rolled into the station and dis- 
mounted as coolly as if he was landing at Riverside ; 
and then the ride back to Biarritz, and the joy of 
Mamma and the girls, you can imagine. He looked 
well, and what good talks I have had about you 
all! . . . 

To Wilbur C. Fisk. 

Biarritz, France, Feb. 4, 1S89. 
While I was writing to my dear boys on Saturday, 
a great storm was gathering, which increased almost 
to a tempest, and has lasted ever since. The sight of 
the ocean from our windows is grandly wonderful. 
Last evening, at full tide, we bundled up, and all but 
Mamma went down to the beach to see the terrific 
breakers as they rolled in and broke on the shore. 
Crowds of people were there looking on. The waters 
had been churned into a white foam, which formed in 
all sorts of fantastic shapes. For perfect safety, and 
to see the glorious sight better, we went up on the 
balcony of the bath-house, — a handsome building 
four hundred feet long, the balcony running the whole 
length. Crowds of people were there with us. The 
house is far up on the beach, a wall ten feet high pro- 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 389 

tecting it ; on the wall a promenade fifteen feet wide, 
this balcony again about three feet above the prome- 
nade. The black sky overhead, the billows crested 
with foam rushed in like mad spirits. The tide was 
still rising, the breakers crept nearer and nearer, — 
they touched the wall, they mounted higher, the foam 
reached the promenade ; suddenly a roaring was 
heard, a general exclamation, and up they rose all 
over our balcony, and amidst suds, foam, shrieks and 
laughter, we scud for safer quarters. On the rocky 
part of the beach the waves would break and dash 
fifty feet into the air. We have had a dozen thunder 
storms ; these, with hail and rain, and the whirling 
tempest, have given us a full taste of heaven's orches- 
tra. We have had while here some days so sweet, so 
calm, so beautiful, that one could almost wish to while 
away a life-time. . . . 

It seems a dream that twenty-one years have passed 
by since the Lord gave us our precious boy Wilbur, 
and that his twenty-first birthday is now at hand. 
You have been a child much loved, your days have 
passed one by one, until now you open the door to 
manhood. We have ever instilled honour and truth 
in your heart, and there it has made a firm lodg- 
ment. 

We have tried to make men of our boys, men to 
stand up for the right, and take their places in the 
world, strong and true. Of all our love for you, you 



390 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

need not be told, or that you will still be our dear 
baby boy all the days of your life. We love you 
dearly ; that tells the story. 

Believing that you have learned the value of money, 
and that you can take care of it, I now shall resign 
into your hands a trust which has grown with your 
growth, which has been sacred amidst storms of ad- 
versity, which is the result of a careful system of sav- 
ings year by year, for our " baby boy Wilbur." That 
he will pursue this same system, take good care of 
the principal, and add to it year by year from the in- 
come, as he can spare it, I feel right sure. 

Keep your money matters to yourself is the true 
maxim ; it is no business of outsiders ; never be 
elated with money possessions, — it is a solemn trust 
which you are accountable for. You can feel that 
the handing over this to you is a mark of my confi- 
dence to the fullest extent, that you know how to take 
care of it, and are worthy. Of course you know how 
sorry I am that I cannot actually give you this myself 
on your birthday, but will look forward to that 
pleasure on my return ; until then, this will be in my 
box at the office. 

. . . May God bless and keep you ever and ever, 
will always be the prayer of your dear 

Papa and Mamma. 



LETTERS OE HARVEY FISK. 391 

Paris, March 3, 1889. 

My dear Boys, — It is with a very tender heart 
that I commence this letter, as it will be the last 
before our return. The days, the weeks, the months, 
have glided by since my first, and now we are almost 
on the eve of starting home again. We are doing up 
last things, we are having our last days in Paris. 
Soon we will be in London, soon the third of April 
will be here, and soon we will be on the old Britannic 
and crossing the deep, wide sea to our loved ones at 
home. 

As I look back over these months, and think of all 
our journeyings, and follow one step after another, it 
seems only a moment. We have been prospered, we 
have been preserved from all harm, we have travelled 
far and wide, — not a mishap, not even a detention. 
You have all been well, you have been diligent and 
prospered in business, you have gained wisdom and 
strength. My being away has not only shown my 
confidence in you, bat has shown the world I had 
faith in your ability to carry on our great business. 
You have succeeded ; you have done me great credit 
as well as yourselves. That you would work hard 
I had no doubt, and therefore I could daily pray the 
Lord to bless my dear boys, to give them good judg- 
ment, to give them prosperity as far as would be for 
their eternal good. The exertions have been re- 
warded, the prayers have been answered. . . . 



392 LETTEES OF HARVEY FISK. 

So many memories weave their story around me of 
our whole trip as I write ; all the time I have been a 
quiet learner and observer, even though during the 
first months I was so much of a sick kitten, — but all 
this passed away at Heidelberg. I never gave up one 
moment, and even tried to be so cheerful that out- 
siders all complimented me on my wonderful good 
looks. Now I think I can work like a horse — at 
least, an old one — again. The next four years we 
ought to salt down a million of money ; at least we 
can aim for it. Like an old war horse, I smell the 
battle afar off. 

London, March 11, 1889. 

This letter was commenced in Paris, eleven days 
ago, and now in reading over what I then wrote I 
find I ended up with a little burst of enthusiasm, 
which may seem to you like counting chickens before 
they 're hatched. But never mind ; it 's good read- 
ing, and we will hope it will come true. 

The last days in Paris passed away very quickly 
and pleasantly ; the most notable incident on my part 
was a visit of inspection with Aleck and Auguste to 
the Exposition buildings. After some little trouble 
we succeeded in getting workmen's tickets, and 
leisurely walked all through. It is simply wonderful, 
— the machinery building is more of a marvel than 
the Eiffel Tower. The American department is no 
credit to our great and glorious country. The whole 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 393 

thing will be a great success, and we were not only 
pleased, but delighted, with our morning's work. The 
last day in Paris arrived, and with great regret I 
pulled out of our cosey home at the Meurice, and 
started for the rough channel, and cold, dreary, foggy 
London. . . . 

Now for a frank confession ; for the first and only 
time I am in love with London. Our surroundings 
are elegant; from our parlour windows we can see 
" Rotten Row," and the great drive in Hyde Park ; 
the walks are beautiful. 1 am content, and now I can 
finish my letter in much better spirits than I expected. 
Mamma and the children are all well, and are de- 
lighted to be once more where English is spoken. 
And now good night for this time, but like Charlie's 
celebrated " Trip to the moon," I can say, " To be 
continued." 

London, March 23. 

. . . There is little more I can add to this ; it will 
be my last letter before we sail. I know we have 
your loving wishes and prayers for a good voyage and 
safe return home ; and you know how our hearts 
reach out to you across the great Atlantic, and how 
we long to see you all again, — and especially the two 
dear little ones added to our flock since we left. For 
all our great blessings as a family, we can only thank 
God and be glad. And now, my dear boys, I can only 
say God bless and keep you and yours, ever and ever. 

50 



894 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 



A GRAVE QUESTION. 



HARVEY FISK $ SONS, 

Bankers and Dealers in Government Bonds, 
Post Offtce Address : No. 28 Nassau Street, 

P. O. Box 235. New York, July 20, 1889 . 

With the small amount of excess reserve in the 
banks how are we going to tide over the great demand 
for currency — now almost on us — to move the fall 
crop of wheat, cotton, corn, and other products, as 
well as the increased needs for industrial purposes ? 

It is well to ask where all the money has flown to 
from New York during the past few months. 

First — We have shipped to Europe to pay for 
foreign goods over $33,000,000 in good solid gold, 
and over 13,000,000 more is already engaged for 
shipment to-day. Second — While the gold sent to 
Europe was to pay what we owed, during all this 
time the United States Treasury was, instead of 
depleting its balances, steadily increasing them day 
by day, and week by week until it now has, by its 
July 1st statement of " assets and liabilities," a 
round sum of nearly one hundred millions surplus, 
and this after laying by $216,000,000 to cover the 
greenback and national bank note reserves and dis- 
bursing officers' balances. The aggregate surplus on 
the first of March last was $72,997,428.53, showing 



LETTERS OE HARVEY FISK. 395 

an increase since that date of nearly $24,000,000 in 
the surplus money belonging to the United States 
Treasury. On July first the aggregate surplus was 
196,838,850.29. 

It is needless for us to state that the law authoriz- 
ing the Secretary of the Treasury to invest, at his 
discretion, all surplus balance in bonds of the United 
States Government is still in force. 

It is also needless for us to state that, if j the 
Administration continues to increase its balance, or 
if it does not liberate rapidly a large proportion of 
what it now has on hand, there will be serious diffi- 
culty in tiding over the usual large demand for 
money in the immediate future and during the fall. 

The remedy is for the Treasury Department to 
carry out the intent and spirit of the laws of Con- 
gress by investing its surplus in bonds of the United 
States. 

It is our opinion as large dealers in Government 
Bonds that fifty to one hundred million " Fours " 
could be bought without advancing the market price 
over 3 or 4 per cent. We have always held that as 
long as the Government could purchase its " Fours " 
to save 2 per cent for each and every year they had 
to run, it was the best thing could be done with its 
" Surplus." The " Fours " now have just eighteen 
years to run to maturity ; if outstanding until that 
time the Government will have paid, in principal and 



396 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

interest, 172, or $1,720 for each $1,000 bond. A 
saving of 2 per cent for each of the eighteen years 
would amount to $360 on each $1,000 bond ; thus, if 
the Government was compelled to pay by the scarcity 
of the bonds, 136, or $1,360 for each $1,000 bond, 
there would be a saving to the people of $360,000, in 
each $1,000,000 purchased; while the scattering of 
the money into the channels of trade and commerce 
would result in untold good to the country. 

Now, unless we are very much mistaken in our 
opinion, the Secretary will have no trouble in supplying 
all his present wants at considerably less than 136. 

The Secretary of the Treasury is now offering to 
buy the 4|s at a price which nets the Government a 
saving of less than 1\ per cent for each year — two 
and one quarter years they still have to run — and 
gets no bonds worth talking about. 

It may be of interest to many to see the follow- 
ing figures, copied from the last report issued by 
J. N. Huston, Treasurer U. S. 

In his custody, as Treasurer, June 29, 1889 : — 

Gold Coin and Bullion $303,504,319.58 

Silver Coin and Bullion 283,604,836.80 

Fractional Silver Coin 25,354,807.90 

Trade Dollar Bullion 6,083,537.70 

Deposits in National Banks 47,432,377.26 

National Bank Notes and other items . . . 4,857,724.99 

United States Notes — Legal Tenders . . . 46,336,085.23 

Grand Total Cash in Treasury $717,173,689.46 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 397 

From which deduct the following Liabilities : — 

Gold Certificates outstanding $116,792,759.00 
Silver Certificates outstanding 257,102,445.00 
" Legal tender " certificates out- 
standing 16,735,000.00 

~ $390,630,204.00 



Balance in the Treasury after all liabilities are 

deducted $326,543,485.46 

or over three hundred and twenty-six million 

DOLLARS. 

If this is not riches — what is ? And this is all 
idle, drawing no interest, while the United States is 
paying interest on a shade less than eight hundred 

AND THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS, — $829,863,990. 

Of the balance in the Treasury the Treasurer is 
required by law to set apart $100,000,000 as a reserve 
for redemption of United States notes, and under 
present laws he is also required to keep idle the 
$83,681,269.16 deposited with him by National banks 
to redeem their circulation as it is presented. 

This leaves a clear surplus of 

$142,862,216.30, 

but of this .amount there is again set aside the sum 
of $46,023,366.01 to cover accrued interest on the 
debt and to meet disbursing officers' drafts when 
presented ; just as if the receipts of the Government 
were going to stop, and never again another dollar 
to be paid into the treasury. 



398 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

We, as a country, are rich enough to stand all this, 
but we cannot see clearly why, after all has been 
provided for, nearly one hundred millions, not wanted 
and not set aside for any purpose, should lie idle 
when so much money could be saved for the people 
by decreasing the interest-bearing debt, as the law 
directs. 

The American people desire to see the debt paid 
as rapidly as possible ; they do not desire to see the 
debt reported as decreased each month, — five, ten or 
fifteen millions, — and brought about only by locking 
up so much more money in the Treasury. 

The United States Government can go into the 
next century entirely free from interest-bearing debt, 
and not half try. 

IN CONCLUSION. 

As long as the Government can buy its bonds at 

so great a saving, that is the best and safest and 

surest way to use its surplus money, much better 

than leaving it idle in the Treasury and National 

Banks. 

Truly, 

Harvey Fisk & Sons. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 399 

Unpublished Circular. 

July 21, 1889. 

In the " New York Tribune " of this morning ap- 
peared an editorial headed " Secretary Windom's 
Policy," in which the writer took occasion to criticise 
our circular "A Grave Question." 

We can only suppose the writer had not, as we 
had, the official statements of the Treasurer of the 
United States before him or he would not have made 
such unaccountable blunders. Every figure we made 
— except the additions and deductions — were made 
from these statements, — for where else could we get 
the figures ? 

We are approaching a crisis, and if the Treasury 
Department blinds itself to the situation we can only 
say we have done our duty. 

The money writer of the " Tribune " also this 
morning made statements which, as far as we are 
concerned, are totally devoid of truth. We never 
had any part or lot in any Syndicate in Government 
Bonds, never at any one time had one-fifth of the 
amount of " Fours " he states. 

We have sold the Treasury Department since it 
commenced to buy bonds nearly sixty-five million 
bonds, and expect to sell it many more. Having 
been actively engaged in dealing in Government 
Bonds for over twenty-five years, we know where 



400 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

most of them are held, and we know the views of 
the holders as to their value. We did not state the 
Treasury would have to pay one hundred and thirty- 
six to get bonds ; on the contrary, we stated as our 
opinion the Secretary could do considerably better. 

As far as regards the deposits in National Banks, 
we have nothing to say, except that the bonds de- 
posited as security are worth more than ten million 
dollars over the deposits, and that the Treasury is 
losing over one million five hundred thousand dollars 
per annum by these deposits in interest it is paying 
on these bonds. Including these deposits, the Treas- 
ury had on July first nearly one hundred million 
dollars which ought to be used in purchasing bonds. 

We are good enough Republicans to think the 
speeches and promises of the Republican party should 
be carried out. Law is law, and they are put in 
Washington to execute the laws, not to interpret 
them to suit their own purposes. Why the head of 
the Treasury Department should try to belittle the 
power in his hands to aid the interests of the country 
is beyond us, — especially as his excess receipts, in 
addition to his surplus, are more than eight millions 
a month over all his needs. 

We state again, and affirm, that by the reports of 
his own officer — the Treasurer of the United States 
— he had nearly one hundred million surplus on July 
1st, 1889. 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 401 

If the Secretary would step into the New York 
Clearing House and confer with the Presidents, he 
would find it was " A Grave Question " with them 
how best to meet the fall demand for currency. 

We may be all thankful that the coming demand 

for money is on account of the " big crops," and no 

one will find fault with the Treasury if it does all it 

can do. 

Truly, 

Harvey Fisk & Sons. 



To Harvey Edward Fisk. 

Maplewood, Aug. 1, 1889. 

. . . Considering that last month was a steadily 
declining market, we did well. Remember always 
that when I am away I trust you and the boys im- 
plicitly, in judgment and all else. Your knowledge of 
railroads is of the utmost advantage to the firm. It 
has been a comfort to me to be with and work with 
you the past few weeks. 

The country will find it is truly " a grave ques- 
tion" if this administration continues to run the 
Treasury as it has commenced. 

Keep me posted of any important changes. I am 
going to rest, and be ready for a heavy fall campaign. 

51 



402 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 



To the Same. 

New York, Sept. 20, 1889. 

We imagine you and Mary very near the " Banks " 
to-night. Every evening we count the miles, and 
wonder how you are getting along. I did feel real 
" peeked " going back to the office after leaving you 
on the steamer, and it seems so lonesome not to see 
you. So many expressions of surprise from people 
coming in to find you were on the ocean and far 
away. We are all very well, and no changes since 
you left. Pliny has gone after Mamie, so Charlie 
and I are working alone ; but not much doing. Al- 
though you have only been gone two days and a half, 
it seems a long time. I can imagine yon now with 
Mary enjoying the old ocean hugely, and having a 
good rest, which you deserve. Your " on board " 
letter was gladly received by Mamma and me. 



St. Augustine, Florida, Jan. 9, 1890. 

My dear Boys, — ... If you need Aleck at any 
time do not hesitate to telegraph for him ; he is a 
comfort to us and popular with all ; but as long as we 
are so quietly settled here, I could spare him in case 
of need. The girls are very well and happy, Mamma 
also ; but she and we all would enjoy a breath of real 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 403 

frosty air once in a while. Our hotel is good, and the 
rooms assigned to us are all we could wish. 

This is a lovely place, — bright, beautiful, and 
warm days with cool nights. ... 1 am in every way 
much better, generally have a good appetite and sleep 
well ; but I do long at times with a great yearning 
to see you all and be with you. . . . 

One nuisance here is the crowds of darkies. James 
can tell you what a real Southern " nigger " is like. 
Now, do I like it here as well as in Europe ? No ; 
there is not the same feeling of novelty. Should say 
Southern France was a much better climate : there is 
a dead sameness which you do not feel abroad. Per- 
haps California would be an improvement, and the 
trip there might not be as tiresome as I imagine. I 
have lost a good deal of flesh, but think I am now 
picking up again. . . . The ride from Washington 
here was long, tedious, and totally devoid of interest, 
— an ill begotten country all the way. I should have 
written before and oftener, but I have really felt too 
lazy to do anything. 

The " Ponce " opens to-day with a grand flourish, 
but we shall stay at the " Cordova ; " our rooms are 
too nice to give up, and then it is much cheaper. 
The "Ponce" is immense, and no mistake; the 
" Alcazar " is another huge building. Mr. Flagler 
owns all three ; he must have spent here at St. 
Augustine several million dollars. 



404 LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 

Now, boys, may you all be blessed with as good 
children as Mamma and I have ; this is my greatest 
desire when I think of my boys and the comfort they 
are to me. 

To Harvey Edward Fish. 

St. Augustine, Florida, Jan. 22, 1890. 
Although it is only about six weeks since we left 
you all, it seems to me as many months. If it had 
not been for your frequent letters we should have 
been lost entirely. Your letters and circulars and 
few words about business have been a great comfort 
to me ; I have felt like writing to you each time your 
letters came. I am much better and more like 
myself, but I cannot apply myself even to writing. 
The days go by in this soft, enervating climate like a 
dream. . . 

To Wilbur C. Fist 

Jacksonville, Florida, Feb. 22, 1890. 
This morning early we sent you a telegraphic " love 
message " to the office, forgetting for the moment 
that it was always closed on your birthday, and pre- 
suming you would not be in Princeton. I also or- 
dered from the Tiffany & Co., of Jacksonville, a 
cocoanut stick which they are to send you by express 
direct to Princeton, as a little token of love. We are 



LETTERS OF HARVEY FISK. 405 

all talking about you to-day and celebrating your and 
May's birthday. 

At last our Florida days are about finished, as we 
have decided to leave for Savannah next Wednesday 
morning. Our visit here has not been without pleas- 
ure, and certainly it has done us all good, and we 
have escaped the grippe and all the discomfort of a 
Northern winter. . . . 

I have been very sorry to be away from the boys 
and oifice all this time ; they must have had a hard 
and trying time with all the changes. Soon now your 
Princeton days will be over, and the graver side of 
life before you. The great future with all its possi- 
bilities will be before you ; you are so well grounded 
and have so much energy that I have no fears. . . . 

I am gaining all the time, and hope to be entirely 
well again and ready for work. May God bless and 
keep you all your future days. 

(Telegram.) 
To Mr. and Mrs. H. Edward Fisk. 

WlLBURTHA, N. J., Oct. 1, 1890. 

Love and congratulations, with the hope of many 
happy returns. 

Papa & Mamma. 

THE END. 



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